


Snapshots

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: F/F, One Shot Collection, additional warnings and ratings will be added to the chapter summaries, tags might grow as this does
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 06:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 67,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23466787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: A collection of one-shots for Helena/Dinah. Also featuring the others but the main focus will be on those two :)
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 316
Kudos: 520





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a few ideas for one-shots floating around, so I decided to start this collection :) Chapter 1: Helena works out. Dinah approves.

There are quite a few upsides to becoming a millionaire overnight, Helena quickly realizes once she has access to her family’s money again; one of them is that she can move from the shady motel where she’s been staying into a proper apartment, close to where Dinah lives, and another one is that she can buy one of the empty buildings nearby and they turn that into their headquarters.

She pays for all the equipment there, as well, even though the other two try to protest, but Helena won’t hear it; she could buy another hundred buildings like this one, and equip them all with computers and training gear and whatnot, she explains one evening when there are protests again, and it wouldn’t make a noticeable dent in the accounts, so they better just shut up and accept it. 

Her words are a bit harsh, perhaps, but social interaction isn’t her strong suit, probably never will be, so Dinah and Renee don’t take it personal, but both simply sigh in surprising unison and give in, and let Helena pay for yet another order of workout equipment.

They put it all up themselves, Helena turns out to be quite good at doing so; there’s punching balls and punching bags and treadmills and crosstrainers, several sets of weights to lift, from half a pound to the impressively large weights Dinah only has ever seen bodybuilders use on TV so far, and never thought she’d have around in real life.

There’s also a simple metal bar, which Helena wedges into the doorframe of their training room, claiming she’ll use it for pullups; and there’s training weapons, wooden swords and staves and knives, so they can practice fighting, too. 

Helena puts up targets, too, and training dummies, for crossbow practice - neither Dinah, nor Renee think she can get much better than she already is, but she insists that regular practice is important, that is one of the first things she has been taught back in Sicily.

Dinah shows interest in learning how to use a crossbow - purely so she can fight from afar, too, she tells Renee at the look the former cop shoots her when she tells Helena this, and surely for no other reason, certainly not because she finds Helena attractive and wants her to teach her - so Helena buys one for her, because of course she does, and she does teach her, but seems frustratingly oblivious to the hidden motive Dinah has had after all, to Renee’s amusement.

“You’ll have to make your interest more obvious, you know”, Renee tells her one evening, when it’s just the two of them having a drink at the bar near the building, another bunch of gear has arrived at their HQ earlier that day and Helena has claimed she wants to set it up, “come on, half the time she doesn’t realize when we’re teasing her, and you think she’ll notice what’s going on when you ask her to teach you how to shoot a crossbow?”

“She ended up teaching me by standing right behind me!” Dinah almost whines in reply, letting her head drop onto the table in frustration, “I was all pressed against her! How could she not notice that?”

“This  _ is  _ Helena you are talking about”, Renee reminds her, and Dinah just groans, “you know her, girl is amazing at kicking ass, but quite dense when it comes to… well, almost everything else, really.”

“I knoooow”, Dinah sighs, sitting up straight again and looking up at the ceiling, “honestly, I’m starting to think I have to wait in her bed for her so she’ll get a damn clue. Naked, with roses and champagne.”

“She might ask if you’re cold and offer her bathrobe”, Renee snorts, and Dinah shoots her a dirty look; she lets out a “hmph” sound, then finishes her drink and comes to her feet, to the surprise of Renee, who had been fairly certain they’d be at this place for longer than just one drink.

“I’ll go and practice some more with that crossbow she got me”, Dinah lets her know, “if I get good with it, that will impress her.”

“Not to mention you might get snuggles again if she’s still there”, Renee dryly says; Dinah just smirks, and shrugs - she does want Helena snuggles, but until the assassin figures out that Dinah likes her, she has to find sneaky ways to get them, and she’s not above doing so. 

“Don’t stay too long”, she says instead of dignifying that with a verbal answer, “and see you tomorrow.”

“See you”, Renee says, “and good luck with the snuggles. Or whatever.”

“Thank you”, Dinah sweetly replies, then heads out, back to their headquarters, hoping that Helena will still be there and that there really will be snuggles, even if they just will happen during crossbow practice.

* * *

As Dinah walks up the stairs to the training area, she can hear music play, and the regular low grunts she knows Helena lets out whenever she works out; she’s heard them roughly a thousand times by now, and finds them oddly attractive, a tidbit she’s kept to herself as she doesn’t want to imagine what Renee might have to say to that.

She doesn’t bother calling out as she walks up the stairs - Helena is always aware of her surroundings, and has an uncanny ability to recognize Renee and her by the sound of their footsteps, so she’ll know it’s her and not someone coming to attack them; and when she reaches the top of the stairs, she stops, freezes in place, eyes widening.

Helena is using the metal bar wedged into the doorframe to do pull-ups, and it’s the hottest thing Dinah has ever seen.

Helena’s wearing a shirt which leaves her stomach bare, and Dinah can see how her abs go tense as she pulls herself up again; and she can see the muscle in her arms work too, and she seriously worries that she’ll spontaneously combust for a moment, feeling quite warm all over.

All she can do is stand there and stare, while Helena slowly lowers herself again, still holding on the bar as she nods a greeting at her; and then, she pulls herself up  _ again _ , and before Dinah can stop herself, a groan escapes her, the assassin taking note of the noise and giving her a worried look as she lowers herself, then lets go of the bar and drops the last few inches to the floor.

“You okay?” she wants to know, wiping sweat off her brow; and a moment later, she looks taken aback as Dinah suddenly gets moving, practically stomps over to her and pokes her in the chest, glaring up at her as she shakes her head.

“No!” she then says forcefully, Helena blinking in surprise, “because here you are, looking like…  _ that _ , and I feel like I’m about to catch fucking fire and you have no fucking idea!”

“I… what?” Helena lets out, still looking clueless, and Dinah groans, throwing her hands up in frustration - before she grabs the taller woman by the straps of her shirt, yanks her closer and kissing her, throwing all caution out the window.

She hears a muffled noise of surprise from Helena, and has a second to worry that this has been wrong, that she has ruined everything now - and then Helena kisses her back, and her arms wrap around her and she pulls her closer, and Dinah melts against her, all tension leaving her at once.

Finally, they pull apart again, and Dinah knows that the flush colouring Helena’s cheeks hasn’t been caused by the workout; she feels quite warm herself, her skin burning where her body is in contact with Helena’s, and from the look on the taller woman’s face, she feels quite similar.

“Should have done this weeks ago”, Dinah mumbles, more to herself than to Helena, but she still gets a reaction, as Helena smiles and nods, clearly having enjoyed this, her eyes sparkling when she replies.

“You could do it again right now?” she suggests, sounding hopeful and happy, happier than Dinah can remember ever hearing her, and it makes her heart soar.

She more than gladly does it again. 


	2. Tense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena is tense after a night out tracking a target, but Dinah knows what to do about that.

The Birds of Prey have been working together for quite a while now, and work well as a team, but when it comes to tracking someone, Helena still prefers doing it on her own. 

Dinah knows this makes sense, Helena is good at following someone unnoticed and noting their moves and routines, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it; she already hasn’t liked it when they’d been friends, and she likes it even less ever since they’ve started dating. 

She feels oddly helpless whenever Helena is out tracking a target, sitting at the assassin’s home and waiting for her; she does this every time Helena goes out to do this part of the job, at first Helena has tried to tell her it’s not necessary, that she knows what she’s doing and that she’s good at this, but Dinah has insisted, and after the first few times, Helena hasn’t brought it up again, having to admit that it is quite nice to come home to someone waiting for her.

And so, Dinah is at her apartment again, zapping through the TV channels as she waits for her to come home; every now and then, her gaze strays to the clock on the wall, but she forces herself to look away again quickly, there is no way to tell when Helena will return, it always depends on the target and on how much said target moves around.

Dinah refuses to think about what she’ll do in case Helena doesn’t come home one night.

She sighs to herself, changing the channel again; on a regular night, a night where Helena is on the couch next to her, they would have found something to watch by now, perhaps something which will add to Helena’s knowledge of pop culture, but now that Dinah is here alone, she can’t find anything to distract her, her gaze straying to the clock again as she wonders what Helena is doing right now.

She changes the channel again, forcing herself to not look at the clock once more, but to keep her focus on the TV; it’s hard though, and time seems to go by extra-slow, no matter how hard she tries to ignore the clock.

Finally, she hears a key turn in the lock, and almost automatically comes to her feet; Helena looks tired when she enters the apartment, but Dinah can tell at once that she’s not hurt, and from the brief satisfied smile the assassin gives her as she closes the door behind herself, she can also tell that the tracking has gone well.

“Found out where he lives”, Helena confirms this, bending over to unlace her boots; and when she straightens up again, Dinah has moved to stand right in front of her, and greets her with a gentle kiss, once again happy that she’s made it back home safely, only able to relax now that Helena is back home.

She can quickly tell that she’s the only who’s relaxed though, Helena is always somewhat tense, possibly a result of her rather unique upbringing, but she’s especially tense today, her back feeling like rock beneath Dinah’s palms when she hugs her hello.

This isn’t the first time she’s all tensed up after tracking someone, and it’s not the first time Dinah knows what to do against it; she just has to take one look at her before she grasps her hand, and Helena walks with her willingly, by now knowing what will come next.

“You know the drill”, Dinah says, making the assassin nod at once; she pulls off her shirt, then sits on the edge of the bed and slides the straps of her bra down her arms while Dinah opens the top drawer of the nightstand on her side of the bed and takes out the small bottle, rolling it between her palms to warm it as she moves to kneel on the bed behind the taller woman.

She makes sure the massage oil is pleasantly warm to the touch by dribbling some onto her palm, then adding a bit more before she starts working on Helena’s shoulders; the assassin lets out an audible groan, and the first few times, this has always made Dinah stop, sure she’s hurt her, but she knows better by now and goes on, thumbs digging into an especially tense knot and making Helena groan again.

“You’re so good at this”, she then says, gritting her teeth when Dinah finds another knot and digs into it; by now, the singer knows exactly how to do this, and her muscles quickly loosen up, the pleasantly scented massage oil helping with that, as well, something Helena has been sceptical about when Dinah has suggested it for the first time, but something she enjoys quite a bit now.

“That’s purely in my own interest you know”, Dinah tells her, hands moving a bit lower on her back and eliciting another groan as her fingers find more tense muscle, “cause I want to sleep snuggled up to you, and that’s not nice when you’re all tense. It’s like sleeping on stone. I appreciate the fact that you’re built like this any other time, but not when I want to rest my head on you.”

“Hrmph”, Helena lets out again as Dinah pushes down onto her back again; and then, she turns with surprising speed so she’s facing the singer, and Dinah knows the glint in her eyes well, smiling innocently as if she has no idea what Helena is about to do.

“Yes, babe?” she feigns innocence for another moment - before Helena practically pounces her, and kisses her, and the massage is forgotten just a short while later.

They’re both very relaxed when they finally do settle down to sleep. 


	3. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A good thing about working from home - when it's quiet like right now, I can write fanfic, ha. Enjoy and stay safe everyone :D   
> Dinah notices Helena's smiles, and *when* she smiles.

_ “You just killed his BFF, and you…” _

Dinah often thinks back to this moment as the Birds of Prey start working together and turn from three women who ended up in this more or less on accident into a smoothly running team; she doesn’t think of what happened next, but of Helena’s reaction to those words, the proud little smile she’s shown.

She’s seen Helena smile again that night, she remembers, when a bunch of goons has grouped up to face her and she’s gone to take them down; and it hasn’t taken her long to notice that Helena doesn’t smile often during any other occasion, but whenever it’s time to kick ass, she lights up like a Christmas tree.

Dinah figures that it’s somewhat normal for someone who’s had an upbringing like Helena to enjoy fighting, but it still worries her a bit, especially since the assassin seems so tense around them all the time even after weeks of working together, and only appears content when she’s fighting bad guys.

She wants to bring it up, wants to reassure her that she can relax around them, too, that she can trust them; she doesn’t know how though, she doesn’t want to risk offending Helena with her words or to make her uncomfortable.

So, Dinah just watches, and waits, waits for the right moment, perhaps when it’s just the two of them - Renee has a good and kind heart, but she can be blunt sometimes; as it turns out though, she’s not the only one who has noticed, and Renee has decidedly less qualms about bringing it up than Dinah.

“Not to be rude or anything”, Renee says one night, after they’ve taken down a bunch of drug dealers and Helena is wiping sweat off her brow and blood off her jacket, thankfully not her own, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so happy to kick ass. Whenever we fight, you look like a kid on Christmas morning.”

Helena just shrugs, and Dinah fights the urge to glare at Renee, she’s curious about this too, but she knows the guarded look Helena shows now well, and knows they won’t find out anything now.

Thankfully, Renee drops the topic, pulling out her phone to inform her police contact about new perps to arrest; and as she does so, Helena turns and walks out of the warehouse, Dinah following her after a second, figuring that Renee will be fine with all the bad guys out cold on the floor. 

Helena doesn’t go far, stopping in front of the rundown building the guys had chosen as their base of operations; she stretches, giving Dinah a rather good look at her abs, then glances at her as she stops next to her.

“Renee means well, you know”, Dinah says, deciding that this is a somewhat safe topic; Helena just shrugs again, and Dinah briefly feels frustrated, she does want the assassin to open up to her, a little bit at least, but has no idea how to make that happen.

“It’s what I’m good at”, Helena suddenly says, and Dinah blinks, not sure where this is coming from now; the taller woman is looking at her now, and at least for the moment, the guarded expression is gone, she’s not smiling, but not closed off either.

“Fighting”, she adds, misreading Dinah’s look for one of confusion at the content of her words and not at the fact that she has spoken up, “it’s what I’m good at. And when I fight someone… that’s when I feel alive.”

The door opens and Renee steps outside, and Helena falls silent again, the guarded look returning; and even though she knows it’s a bit rude, and perhaps wrong, Dinah feels oddly proud at having gotten this bit of information from Helena though, knowing deep inside that this has been a special and rare moment between just the two of them.

It makes her smile, and when her eyes meet Helena’s, she notices the corners of Helena’s mouth twitch upwards, and she knows that is a good and special thing, as well.

* * *

When Helena kisses her for the first time, it’s after a long and gruelling fight, they’re both dirty and bloody and Helena has a split lip, but Dinah wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s not as out of nowhere as it seems, they have been growing closer as the weeks have gone by, and she’s noticed that Helena is looking her with what can only be described as interest and attraction more and more; still the kiss itself comes as a bit of a surprise, Dinah has been fairly certain she’ll be the one to make the first move, once she could have been sure Helena wouldn’t run away screaming.

Apparently, Helena has other ideas though, striding up to her, sheathing her crossbow as she walks, a look of determination on her face; she wraps the singer up in her arms and then her mouth is on hers, with no hesitation and no holding back, she puts it all into that kiss.

_ She kisses like she fights _ , Dinah nonsensically thinks to herself as she kisses her back with a fervour to match hers,  _ giving it her all, jeez, this feels so good. _

She stops thinking and just focuses on  _ feeling _ , ignoring everything around her, all she focuses on is Helena, how she tastes and feels and smells, how her skin heats up where Helena is touching her. 

When they finally do pull apart again, she’s out breath, but she’s smiling, and so is Helena, a smile happier than Dinah has ever seen on her, even when she has gone to fight a bunch of bad guys.

“How do you feel”, she asks before she can stop herself, and she’s glad Renee has walked a few steps away when the smooching has started to give them some privacy; she doesn’t think the former cop would make some derisive comment, but Helena might not want to answer this with anyone but her able to hear it.

Helena’s smile widens, and Dinah can feel her heart skip an excited beat, both at the sight and at the assassin’s answer to her question, simple, but warming her heart.

“Alive.”


	4. Different Kinds of...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when I get bored in home office, lol. I hope it makes sense XD

“Sooo. Helena.”

“Harley…?”

“You know there’s different kinds of sex, right.”

“I… what?”

“Harley!”

“What, Dinah, what? She’s grown up all weird. Just making sure she’s up to date.”

“I did not grow up  _ weird _ . We did have a TV, you know.”

“So you know about angry sex?”

“Well, yes.”

“And make-up sex?”

“Mhm.”

“And of course the kinky shit. Like handcuffs and what not.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“I’m just curious. About, you know, what stuff do you know about and what do we have to teach you.”

“Harley, I know you have a PhD, but the thought of you teaching Helena anything is terrifying.”

“Rude! I’m a great teacher. Ask Cass.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Pff, whatever. Anyway. Helena.”

“...yes?”

“So you know there’s different kinds of sex.”

“Yes…”

“So which one is your favourite kind?”

“The kind I have with Dinah.”

“... _ what???” _

“Aw, Helena, how sweet.”

“Again,  _ what? _ You guys are…?!”

“Sleeping together? Dating? Yes. Haha you should see the look on your face. Helena, that was not just sweet, that was fucking amazing. Look at her!”

“What, I just told the truth.”

“Oh man. I knew it!”

“Then why did you react so shocked now?”

“Well, I knew you wanted to get into each other’s pants. Had no idea you’d already gotten there.”

“The more you know.”

“True that. … Soooo… and what kind of sex is your favourite kind with Dinah, Helena?”

“ _ Harley!” _


	5. To Put It Bluntly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinah flirts, Helena is oblivious. So Dinah decides to be blunt about her interest.

Dinah has always thought she is good at flirting.

She’s successfully flirted many times in her life after all, has charmed her way into the beds of men and women alike; so she’s quite certain she knows what she’s doing, has the art of the casual touch and the seductive look down.

She starts to doubt her skill when her attempts to flirt with Helena lead absolutely nowhere.

Dinah is well aware that Helena has had an upbringing different to anyone else she knows, and that, while her knowledge about how to maim and kill people is excellent, her skill in social interaction is sorely lacking; so, she adjusts her flirting accordingly, skipping the more subtle steps and going straight for the more obvious ones.

She makes a point of touching Helena, for example, appreciatively squeezing her biceps and complimenting her on it or trailing her hand across her back when she walks past her; when they go out for drinks after another night of taking down bad guys, she always makes sure to sit next to her, so close that their thighs are touching.

She’s not exactly subtle, and yet Helena remains frustratingly oblivious, so oblivious that after a while, Dinah finds herself wondering if she’s acting so clueless on purpose.

_ No one can be that clueless _ , she thinks to herself one time, as her hand actually finds its way to Helena’s thigh and she gives it a squeeze when they are at the bar again, and Helena barely glances at her before taking a sip of her beer,  _ it’s just not humanly possible. Grown up among assassins, fine, but still! _

Renee catches her eye and smirks, well aware of what she is doing; the first few times, Dinah has been embarrassed to be caught like this, but by now, she doesn’t care anymore, stunned instead that Renee notices while Helena herself still has no clue.

Holding back a sigh, she pulls her hand back, and takes a large sip of her own drink; next to her, Helena fidgets a bit, and for a second, Dinah hopes that she is getting  _ some _ sort of reaction now, but it seems that Helena has only wanted to get more comfortable, because she sits still again a moment later.

_ Maybe she  _ does _ notice,  _ Dinah thinks to herself, fighting the urge to make a face,  _ and she’s simply not interested. But no, that can’t be it, she’s so blunt all the time, she would have said so if she’s annoyed by your flirting. But how can one person be so oblivious? _

Helena takes another sip of beer, and her thigh brushes against Dinah’s as she moves a bit on the bench again, and Dinah decides then and there that she’s going to make one last, somewhat desperate attempt at making it obvious to the assassin that she’s interested.

One Helena simply can’t miss, or misread, and if this doesn’t go anywhere, either, then she’ll at least know for sure.

* * *

Dinah knows where Helena stays when they aren’t fighting crime, and while it’s not the rundown motel anymore where she’s been during her mission, it’s not in a much better part of town; so, security isn’t as high as it perhaps should have been for someone who’s as loaded as the assassin, but Dinah figures that this is good for her.

It’s good for her because she can easily pick the lock of Helena’s apartment door, sneak in, and get everything ready.

She knows Helena has a sort of routine by now, and that she goes out for a run each day at five on the dot; and so, she has been there at four, and has waited until she has seen Helena leave, hidden across the street so she won’t be seen, and now, she’s ready to make her final move.

She sets everything up, Helena runs for half an hour so she hurries a bit; and then, she gets in position and waits, heart hammering fast in her chest as she knows that she’s all in now, and all she can do is wait for the result.

* * *

Helena feels good and relaxed when she returns from her run, she always feels good after any kind of workout; this stops though when she unlocks her apartment door and she can immediately tell that something is different.

_ Someone’s in here. _ This is what her instinct tells her, and she’s learned to trust her instinct; her fingers twitch, her hands curling into loose fists as she takes a few slow steps forward.

She picks up an oddly familiar scent, of vanilla and… roses?

Frowning, Helena pauses, fairly certain that someone who wants to ambush her in her home and kill her wouldn’t bring her roses, but then, there are weirdos out there like Victor Zsasz, so one never knows.

Standing perfectly still, Helena focuses, on scents and on noise, and she quickly picks up on someone breathing from her bedroom nearby; her adoptive dads have always told her that she has very good hearing, and this is proven again right now, not many others would have been able to register that sound.

Tense and ready, Helena soundlessly moves to the bedroom door, glad that it’s ajar and not closed, so she can easily surprise whoever is in there; she takes in a slow, deep breath, then kicks it open, hard enough to hopefully startle a possible intruder, but not so hard that it’d hit the wall and bounce back.

And a second later, she freezes, her eyes go wide and her mouth goes completely dry from one moment to the next.

Dinah is lying on her bed, only in her underwear, there’s actual rose petals strewn about, like in some cheesy romance movie, and she’s looking back at her with a very inviting smile.

“There you are”, she states, “I already wondered if you’d be out running today for longer than usual.”

“Um”, is all Helena can let out, but the way she stares at Dinah tells her that this has been a good idea, she looks like she’s this close to simply pouncing her, and so, she decides to give her some incentive to do so, sitting up slightly, just enough to give Helena a very good view of her body.

Helena gets moving, and there’s a ripping sound, and only when her shirt drops to the floor in her wake, Dinah realizes she’s simply torn it in two instead of taking it off the normal way.

“Woah there”, she has time to say, and then Helena reaches the bed and a moment later she’s kissing her with such fervour and need that it send a spike of heat right to her core.

She can feel Helena’s arms wrap around her, and they are as strong as they look, which only makes the heat increase; she’s quick to return the embrace, and when her hands land on Helena’s back, the assassin actually  _ moans _ , a sound which sends pleasant shivers up and down Dinah’s spine.

“Damn, you make this sound just from kissing and this?” she demands to know as she pulls back from kiss, running her fingertips over the other woman’s back and earning another grown, “I can’t wait to see which sounds you’ll make when I really get going.”

Helena just kisses her again, and a short while later, Dinah does find out which sounds she makes when the singer really gets going.

She’s never shown her interest so bluntly before, but it certainly has paid off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Helena's shirt... She better not make a habit of that. XD


	6. Enraged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena gets angry, Dinah appreciates it.

_ “I love this chick, she’s got rage issues.”  
_ _ “I DON’T HAVE RAGE ISSUES!” _

Perhaps, Dinah sometimes thinks to herself, it’s weird to compliment someone on their rage issues, but she’s meant it when she’s said it, maybe it makes her a weird person to find this compelling, but she can’t help herself.

It’s shown, when Helena has come down that slide at the amusement park, stabbing some random goon to death; Harley has told her how cool she is, and Dinah has found herself smiling in appreciation and agreement, she’s fairly sure that this truly is weird, but again, she hasn’t been able to help herself.

It  _ was  _ cool, after all, and badass, and Helena has been badass for the rest of the fight, too, and has kept it up as they’ve formed their little group and have started to fight crime. 

She can tell that Helena does have rage issues, no matter how vehemently the assassin denies it; they show when she punches a guy a few extra times after he’s gone down, they show when someone lands a hit and she goes to retaliate, and sometimes, they even show when they’re not fighting criminals, but when Helena is working out at their headquarters, attacking the punching bag much more vicious than necessary.

Perhaps, Dinah ponders, it’s strange to find this whole rage thing so interesting, almost attractive, but then, she has issues of her own, they all have, and it’s not like the rage is the only thing she finds compelling about Helena.

She’s always liked her women tall and well-built, and Helena checks those boxes; the “tall, dark and brooding” thing she’s got going on is an extra bonus, and thanks to her habit to wear sleeveless shirts which often leave her stomach bare too during working out, Dinah also knows that she’s built exactly the way she likes it, with abs she could grate the weird Italian cheese Helena loves so much on. 

Dinah, simply put, is very into her, but it seems that Helena has no idea about her interest, apparently not realizing what it means when Dinah appreciatively squeezes her biceps or compliments her on how good she’s at fighting.

It takes another moment of the rage breaking free to let Dinah realize that maybe, Helena isn’t as oblivious as she has thought, because when the rage makes another appearance, it’s on her behalf.

They’re fighting a gang of drug dealers, none of them is very good at fighting, but one of them lands a lucky hit with his knife; he slashes at Dinah’s face, she brings her arm up in the last second to avoid losing an eye, and the blade bites into her forearm instead, drawing blood, and she can’t hold a little yelp of pain back.

A second later, she hears Helena actually  _ growl _ , and then the assassin is shooting past her, her own knife glinting in her fist as she jumps the man who has hurt her; he can only let out a short cry, then she rams the knife into his throat, clinging to him with her free hand as he goes down and easily remaining on top of him.

She stabs him again, and again, even though he’s dead, has died from her initial attack, and the rage burning in her eyes is so bright that Dinah is honestly surprised the corpse doesn’t catch fire.

Belatedly, Helena seems to realize she’s finished the job as she yanks the knife back out again; she comes to her feet and, with an angry grunt, kicks the dead body for good measure, then turns and throws the knife at another one of the goons, taking him down as effortlessly as his companion.

She’s still angry though, Dinah can tell, because she moves to fight another one, relying on the brute force of her punches now; and as she focuses on the fight again as well, ignoring the pain from the cut in her arm, Dinah feels her stomach tingle oddly.

Maybe it’s weird to find this rage so compelling, but the fact that this time, Helena has gotten so angry because someone has hurt  _ her _ makes her feel all warm and tingly inside, and once again, she just can’t help herself.

* * *

After the fight, when they’re back at the warehouse and taking care of their injuries, Dinah approaches Helena once she’s cleaned the cut on her arm; it’s not so deep it needs stitches, thankfully, and so she just disinfects it and slaps a bandage on it before she finds Helena, the assassin meticulously cleaning the little cuts and scrapes she’s acquired during the fight.

“You got angry”, she gets right to the point, deciding that she won’t beat around the bush, “when that guy hurt me.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing grunt in reply, but she seems focused on cleaning her knuckles a bit too hard now, as if she’s trying very hard to  _ not _ look at Dinah; Dinah’s not having any of that though, reaching out with one hand and placing it against Helena’s jaw, and that gives the assassin pause as she finally looks up at her.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen that”, Dinah tells her, making sure to hold her gaze, “that you get angry when one of us gets hurt.”

“You’re my friend”, Helena says after a moment, “I don’t like it when someone hurts my friends.”

“That may be so, but don’t let Renee hear that, cause you didn’t go ballistic like that when that one fucker punched her in the face”, Dinah points out, and to her amazement, Helena blushes, and looks away again, her gaze moving back to meet Dinah’s though when the former singer goes on.

“Just so you know”, she says, her thumb tracing the other woman’s jawline and making her swallow noticeably, “I really appreciated it.”

And with that, she leans in and presses a kiss to Helena’s cheek, then straightens up again and, without a word, walks to get herself a drink from the little kitchen; she can feel Helena’s eyes on her as she walks, and smirks to herself.

Hopefully, she thinks to herself, she can soon show Helena how much she’s truly appreciated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "rage issues" was one of my favourite moments in the film, so of course I had to work it into one of these XD I hope you enjoyed it :D


	7. Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some random fluff I wrote while work was quiet. Enjoy :D Helena and Dinah have some pillow talk.

It surprises Dinah a bit, when she shares her bed with Helena for the first time, how sweet and gentle the assassin is with her.

She hasn’t been quite sure what to expect, Helena is different when it’s just the two of them, showing a well hidden tender side with her; still the way she touches her in bed is a surprise, so carefully and gently, as if she’s afraid Dinah might break or crumble beneath her fingers if she touches her too rashly.

It feels good though, unexpected as it is, to be treated with such tenderness; and as it turns out, while Helena might not be very experienced, she’s a fast learner, and she soon has Dinah gasping her name as she clings to her.

Afterwards, after Dinah has returned the favour, there’s snuggling, something else Dinah hasn’t quite expected; it has taken Helena a while to get used to the friendly touches which are common amongst friends, and cuddling is much more intimate than a friendly pat on the back, and yet it’s Helena who initiates it, pulling Dinah close so the other woman ends up with her head resting on her chest, and can hear her heartbeat.

“Comfortable?” Helena asks once Dinah has settled in her arms, the singer letting out an agreeing noise in response; one of Helena’s hands is resting on her back, the other on her waist, and while she’s had a few people to share her bed with the past few years, she can’t remember any of them ever holding her like this.

Perhaps this says something about her choice of partner, she ponders, but then, none of them have been more than a one night stand, most of them have left shortly after doing the deed, and the few who did stay the night snuck out in the next morning, and she knows things are different with Helena, this is not just a one time thing.

“Very”, she says out loud, smiling when she feels Helena’s fingers idly run over her back, “you know, for someone who’s like ninety percent muscle, you’re very comfortable to lie on.”

“I think ninety percent is an exaggeration”, Helena solemnly says, “bone is more than ten percent, and then there’s the blood and water.”

“You know what I meant”, Dinah tells her with a roll of her eyes, poking her side for emphasis and smirking when Helena lets out a little yelp, “take the compliment and don’t question my math.”

“Okay okay”, Helena says with a small laugh, making Dinah smile again as well, “so… thank you?”

“You’re welcome”, Dinah smirks, then cranes her neck so she can press a gentle kiss to her cheek. 

“Hm”, she then thoughtfully lets out, “it’s been a while since I did this, but it does feel very nice.”

“Cuddling?” Helena tries to clarify, “or sex?”

“...well, it has been a while since I’ve had sex, so kinda both”, Dinah tells her, a bit surprised at how at ease she is talking about these things with the assassin, normally, she would have made some crude comment now to deflect from revealing anything personal about herself, “but more the cuddling. The last few times I took someone to bed with me, they’d left right after doing the deed.”

“Well that’s rude”, Helena says, frowning, then suddenly looks worried, “unless that is what you want? You want me to leave?”

“What, no”, Dinah reassures her at once, squeezing her a bit for good measure, “I want you to stay right where you are. The last few times I did this with someone, it was a one time thing, but this is not.”

She can feel Helena relax again beneath her, and smiles, then props herself up one arm so she can look her in the face without risking straining her neck, leaning in for a brief kiss before she speaks up again, amused when Helena blushes in response to her words.

“You know”, Dinah says, “I’m not quite sure what I was expecting when we started this but… it kinda surprised me how sweet and gentle you were.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, immediately looking worried again, and Dinah feels bad for her choice of words, “was that… not good?”   


“No no no”, Dinah quickly reassures her, “it was great. Just… unexpected. I don’t know what I expected, to be honest, but not quite cuddly sweet teddybear Helena.”

“I wanted to make you feel good”, Helena lets her know, blushing a bit, “and you seemed to enjoy it so…”

“Oh I did”, Dinah immediately nods, “and I’m enjoying this, too. I forgot how nice it can be to just cuddle with someone.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing noise as Dinah settles in her arms again, and goes back to lightly running her fingers over her back; she feels Dinah sigh more than she hears it, and smiles a bit to herself.

It does feel very nice, and she hopes she’ll get to enjoy this more often in the future. 


	8. Sun and Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay quiet home office time! More time to write one-shots and first kisses for those two. xD  
> Helena thinks she has nothing to offer, but Dinah begs to differ.

Even when she still has been on her mission, Helena sometimes has wondered what she will do once she is done.

She’s known there’s a good chance she won’t even get that far, that something will happen to stop her; she could have gotten hurt or even killed, she knows, and she has gotten hurt a few times during her quest for vengeance, but somehow, she’s made it to the end, she’s killed them all and has avenged her family.

She’s lucky that things have worked out the way they have, she sometimes thinks to herself, that she has met Dinah and Renee, and has ended up working with them; this gives her a new mission in life, a new purpose, a noble one, even, ridding the city of criminals and of those who would hurt and harm others.

Helena knows very well how lucky exactly she is - with her skill set, being a vigilante or being a professional assassin are pretty much her only options, and she figures that at least, she is fighting for something good and noble now, not just vengeance, but something which will make Gotham a better place in the long run. 

She knows this, and still she finds herself wondering sometimes, if this is all she is good for, if this is all anyone sees in her - a crossbow and a pair of fists, a fighter, someone who’s good at kicking ass, but not at much of anything else.

Her social skill is sorely lacking, she’s aware of that, but she has no idea how to change that; at least, Renee and Dinah don’t seem to mind, and while they do tease her about it, it’s always friendly and never mean or hurtful, she figures that’s an okay thing to do amongst friends.

That she has friends now is a new thing for her, too, she never would have thought all of this would happen when she has gone to the amusement park back then to kill Zsasz; and yet here they are, her friends, people she cares dearly for.

Sometimes, when she looks at Dinah, she wonders if she cares a bit too much for her, if she feels more for her than simple friendship; she never allows herself to dwell on those thoughts though, she knows they will lead nowhere good, Dinah is like the sun and she’s a creature of shadow, with nothing she can offer.

All she can see coming from this is something bad, perhaps it might ruin the team if she says or does the wrong thing, and then, she’d be alone, with no purpose and nothing to do.

Every now and then, it gets hard for her to keep these thoughts at bay though, when Dinah smiles at her or laughs at something she’s said, or compliments her after another fight they’ve won; and it’s during those moments that she retreats for some peace and quiet, she’s quickly learned that the roof of the warehouse they use as their headquarters works well for that. 

It’s another one of those moments, she’s looked Dinah in the eyes a bit too long and has been a bit too overwhelmed by her smile, and so she’s mumbled an excuse and has come up here, sitting on the cold stone now and staring out at the city, trying to regain some semblance calm.

So far, she’s always been alone up here, until she’s felt like she can go back inside, but this time, she’s only been here for a few minutes when footsteps come up behind her, footsteps she immediately recognizes as Dinah, she’s much lighter on her feet than Renee, even though the former cop is shorter.

“Hey”, Dinah says, confirming what Helena already knows, “mind if I join you?”

Helena shakes her head, she would have preferred some more time to herself, but she can’t find it within her to tell Dinah no; Dinah smiles, and sits next to her, and for a while, they just sit there side by side in silence, looking out at the city.

“It’s nice up here”, Dinah is the one to break the silence, Helena glancing at her, taking in her profile, feeling the odd tingles in her stomach she always seems to experience when she looks at her, “I was wondering why you’re coming up here so often, but I think now I know.”

“You’re beautiful”, Helena blurts before she can stop herself, her eyes going wide a moment later; Dinah looks at her, smiling, and any ideas she might have had about how to talk her way out of this flee her mind the moment their eyes meet.

“Thank you”, Dinah says, looking so happy that Helena is glad after all she hasn’t tried to take it back, “you’re not unappealing yourself, you know.”

“Right”, Helena scoffs, and Dinah frowns, this is clearly not the reaction she has expected; she blinks, then frowns, clearly not happy about this reaction.

“I’m not sure what you mean”, she says, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to upset the other woman; she has noticed that Helena tends to vanish up to this roof whenever they’ve had a sort of moment, and after this reaction, she begins to suspect what the reason for this might be. 

“Look at me”, Helena tells her in response, sounding so bitter all at once that it makes Dinah’s heart clench up, “what’s appealing about me? All I can do is maim and kill people. You’re beautiful, and kind, and funny, and I’m… a killing machine.”

“You’re more than that”, Dinah says at once, and something in her voice and eyes tells Helena that she means it, that she’s not just saying it to make her feel better, “come on, you can be funny, too, if you allow yourself to be. And you’re kind, you care for your friends… plus, you’re not exactly unappealing to look at, either, you know.”

Helena still finds that hard to believe, looking doubtful, and Dinah’s heart flies out to her; she suddenly needs to make her see, needs her to realize how much she means to her, and, feeling daring, she reaches over and grasps the assassin’s hand, glad when Helena doesn’t pull away.

“You’re amazing”, Dinah sincerely says, and means it, squeezing her hand, “I wish you… could see what I see when you look at you.”

“A killer”, Helena whispers, and Dinah’s heart clenches up, “that’s all I see when I look at myself. And I got nothing I can offer but killing people…”

“That’s not true”, Dinah says at once, earning another doubtful look, but it feels like a good moment between them anyway, and so, she decides to ask before she can lose her nerve, “is this… why you come up here? Because you feel like…?”   


“Because I want you so much that it hurts but you deserve better”, Helena blurts, and for a moment Dinah feels an odd mixture of emotion, happy at having heard that and also sad at how little Helena thinks of herself; and she realizes there are no words to make this better, nothing she can say that Helena will believe, and so, she decides to act.

She leans in and kisses her, and after a moment of surprised hesitation, Helena kisses her back, wraps both arms around her, clings to her as if she’s saving her from drowning.

Perhaps, Helena realizes as they kiss and she melts into how right this feels, she doesn’t deserve this… but Dinah is like the sun, there can’t be shadow without the sun, and she’ll take what the singer is willing to give for as long as Dinah lets her.

And she knows she’ll give her everything she can in return. 


	9. Lay the Ghost to Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I received this prompt on tumblr: "Can do do a story where Helena has PTSD/nightmares due to her childhood and Dinah calms her down in the middle of the night?" And it was right up my alley, so of course I had to write it. XD

For fifteen years, Helena has been training, has been taught how to fight and how to kill, has been made into a killing machine.

For fifteen years, she’s been thinking of revenge, planning and pondering, working towards one clear goal, the thought of the men who’ve slaughtered her family in front of her dying at her hands keeping her going even when her muscles scream in agony at the strict training regime her adoptive fathers have created for her.

For fifteen years, she’s built up strength and stamina, has put her body through daily exercise routines, no matter how tired she’s been, no matter how much it has hurt; she’s practiced with knives and crossbows and even guns, she doesn’t like guns, but her adoptive fathers have insisted, have told her they are an important tool for an assassin, and so she’s ignored the way her stomach twists every time she hears a gunshot and has learned how to use them, as well.

And for fifteen years, she’s been having nightmares, not every night, but more often than not, nights when she wakes up in a cold sweat, but not making a sound - she’s stopped crying out upon waking long ago, it’s important to be quiet for an assassin, even in the safety of their own home.

The nightmares take her back to the parlour, to lying beneath the dead weight of her mother, covered in her blood; sometimes, she needs a few moments to snap back into the present, and sometimes, it makes her throw up, and even though it’s been fifteen years, she’s not used to it, she’s not sure one ever can get used to something like this.

She’s been hoping that the nightmares will stop once she’s killed the last target on her list, but Zsasz has been dead for a while and Sionis too, and the nightmares are still coming.

She doesn’t tell anyone she has them, not even Dinah when they start dating; she figures Dinah will find out at some point, but since she wakes soundlessly even from the worst nightmares, maybe she can keep it hidden, she would prefer that, she does allow herself to be more vulnerable and less tough when she’s alone with Dinah, but she doesn’t want the singer to see her the way she is after another nightmare has torn her out of her sleep.

It even does work out, for a while, she wakes a few times when she spends the night at Dinah’s place, but manages to not wake her up, as well; she manages to pull herself back to the present on her own, Dinah sleeping soundly next to her, her warmth and the calm sound of her breathing a good anchor Helena is happy to use, even when Dinah isn’t aware of it.

She manages to keep her nightmares from Dinah, for a while, but then one night the bad dreams are worse than they have been in a long time, and when she wakes she can’t breathe, there’s sweat and tears on her face and she can’t breathe.

She still has a moment to hope that maybe, Dinah still won’t wake, won’t see her like this, but she must have been tossing and turning before she’s woken up, because Dinah is stirring, voice sleepy when she mumbles her name, even though she quickly sounds more awake and aware when Helena desperately tries to pull air into her lungs cause she still can’t breathe.

“Helena”, Dinah says, sitting up, but not touching her, not yet, she’s never experienced this with the assassin before but something tells her it might be a bad idea to touch her without warning, “Helena, Sweetheart? What’s wrong?”

There’s still not enough air in the room, in her lungs, so all Helena can do is wheeze in response; part of her knows that she’s having a panic attack, it’s been a while since she’s had one but she recognizes the symptoms, but another, bigger part is drowning in fear, and drowns out what little rationality she has left.

“Helena”, Dinah says again, apparently realizing quickly what is happening, as she sounds kind and calming now, “look at me, okay? Can you do that for me?”

It takes a lot of strength to turn her head far enough to do what Dinah asks, more than it should, but Helena manages; Dinah meets her gaze with calm kindness, a quiet reassurance that she is here, that Helena is here with her, that everything will be okay.

“Okay, good”, the singer says, “is it okay if I touch you?”

Helena makes herself nod, she knows touch will be a good anchor, but she’s grateful Dinah has made sure it’s okay first, her reflexes and instincts sometimes are faster than her mind, and in her current state, she knows she might have lashed out, had Dinah touched her without warning.

“Okay, good”, Dinah says again, moving one hand to rub her back and the other to grasp one of hers, “focus on that, okay? You can feel me touching you? I want you to focus on that, can you do that for me?”

Helena makes herself nod again, Dinah’s touch is gentle and calming, like her voice, and she focuses on both the hand rubbing tender circles on her back and on the fingers curled around her own; and slowly, she can breathe again, her racing heart slows and the air returns to the room.

“Good”, Dinah mumbles, feeling her relax beneath her touch, “that’s good, you’re doing great babe. Deep breaths now, okay?”

Helena manages another nod, she still doesn’t trust herself to talk, but she can do what Dinah has asked her to; and for a while, she just sits there, taking deliberate slow, deep breaths, focusing on Dinah’s touch, until her heartrate is back to normal and she can breathe properly again.

“Thank you”, she finally manages to say something, embarrassed at what has happened, but Dinah doesn’t seem to be judging her, she’s still rubbing her back and holding her hand and looking at her with concern, not contempt, “and… sorry.”

“Don’t be”, Dinah says at once, gently squeezing her hand, “feel better?”

Helena nods yet again, then runs her free hand down her face, grimacing at the sweat and tears drying on her skin; she figures she should go and wash her face, but she doesn’t want to leave the bed, doesn’t want to go away from Dinah, and so, she doesn’t.

“Good”, Dinah says, giving her a smile she can see even in the darkness of the bedroom, “come here, then.”

She lies back down and pats her chest, and Helena moves to snuggle up to her, relaxing further when she feels the singer’s arms wrap around her; Dinah goes back to rubbing her back, and kisses the top of her head, and Helena can hear her slow, steady heartbeat and that helps anchoring her even further.

“It’s okay”, Dinah mumbles to her, holding her close, “I’m here, you’re okay, you’re safe. You can sleep.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing noise in reply, and once again focuses on the feel of Dinah’s gentle touch; and after a while, she does fall asleep again, to the sound of Dinah’s heartbeat and her palm rubbing soothing circles on her back.

She sleeps deeply through the rest of the night, no more nightmares disturbing her slumber.

_Now rest for you are tired, let it go_   
_Dive into sleepless dream, embrace oblivion_   
_Be gone sorrow, leave your dead behind_   
_Stay away grief, lay the ghosts to rest_

Insomnium - Lay the Ghost to Rest


	10. Lesson from Another Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt I got: Can you do a fic where Helena has some skill or knowledge that makes all the others look at her in surprise/confusion and she just says something like "what? I spent the first 9 years of my life being raised to be the head of Gotham's biggest mafia family. Of course i would know this"

It’s been a quiet afternoon at the Birds of Prey headquarter, the three of them not having any mission for the night and waiting for one of Renee’s contacts to give her some sort of lead; Dinah would have loved to spend the free time making out with Helena, but ever since Renee has caught them doing just that on the couch once, she’s forbidden them from smooching at their headquarters, and they grudgingly accept this rule.

Except for when Renee is not around, cause what she doesn’t know won’t anger her, and so, when the former cop declares she’ll go get them lunch, she’s barely out the door before Dinah is moving to where Helena is sitting on the couch, the assassin meticulously cleaning her weapons and sharpening those which are in need of sharpening.

(Dinah is fairly certain none of the knives truly do need to be sharpened, but Helena has told her once that sharpening them calms her down, is like meditation for her, and so, she doesn’t question it.)

She sits down next to her, and Helena glances at her, a smile already tugging at the corners of her mouth - this isn’t the first time they have a quick, but heated makeout-session while Renee is gone, and it won’t be the last.

“You got a minute for me?” the singer asks innocently, and immediately, Helena puts the knife and the sharpening stone onto the table in front of her; and another moment later, Dinah is in her lap, kissing her deeply, a pleased noise coming from her when Helena’s arms wrap around her.

They’ve kissed what like feels a thousand times at this point, but Dinah doubts she will ever get tired of it, and Helena seems to feel the same, pulling her even closer against herself as they keep kissing.

Thankfully though, even when she’s making out with her girlfriend, Helena is aware of her surroundings, and so she hears Renee come up the stairs after a while, faster than expected; she pulls back from the kiss, and nods towards the stairs, and immediately, Dinah moves off of her and goes to the punching bag not far from the couch, pretending to be very focused on training with it while Helena goes back to sharpening her knives.

“You guys, I swear”, Renee says as she enters, unaware of what the two have been doing just two minutes ago, “that bodega down on the corner? That must be used for money laundering or something, whenever I walk by, no one’s in there, but it has been open for years.”

“It’s better to use a business with moderate to okay customers for money laundering”, Helena says without looking up from her knife, thus missing how both Renee and Dinah pause what they are doing to stare at her, “makes it less suspicious in case someone does surveillance on it.”

She notices no one is answering her, and looks up at last after all, finding them both staring at her as if she’s grown a second head; not sure what has caused this reaction, she blinks, then Dinah shakes her head, disbelief in her voice when she speaks up.

“How do you even know that”, the singer wants to know, shaking her head again, “was that part of the lesson plan with your assassin dads? Cause it doesn’t seem like it should be.”

“I spent the first nine years of my life being raised to be the head of Gotham’s biggest mafia family”, Helena points out in reply, “and for that, it was part of the lesson plan. I can even tell you how to launder the money so that it won’t be noticed for years, or decades.”

“Doesn’t seem like a nine year old should know that”, Renee says, her turn to shake her head now; Helena just shrugs, she’s been given her first lesson how to kill a man when she’s been ten, so money laundering seems much more tame, in comparison.

“I also had piano lessons?” she offers something a bit more appropriate for a child; Renee just shakes her head again, then wanders off to put the drinks she’s brought into the fridge, muttering about messed up mafia children as she walks, while Dinah smiles and moves to sit next to the assassin again, placing one hand on her arm as she winks at her.

“You know”, she says, “I don’t need to know how to launder money, but I do would like to hear you play piano some day.”

Helena smiles a bit at that, and nods, she’s fairly certain she’s forgotten most of it, but she’s willing to try again for Dinah, if only to make her smile.

Perhaps, she thinks to herself as she goes back to sharpening her knives, she’ll have to practice a bit in private first. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a prompt of your own you'd like to see from me? :D Hit me up on tumblr: https://dreamshapers-universe.tumblr.com/


	11. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: I was wondering if you could write one about Helena being touch starved (because she obviously would be)? Maybe at the beginning of their relationship Dinah and her have a talk about it and start a nightly routine of Dinah giving Helena a shoulder rub/massage to ease her into getting touched. 
> 
> I already had a one-shot involving backrubbing though, so it took a slightly different reaction.

Dinah has always been quick to touch those she likes, something one perhaps wouldn’t have guessed about her, but something the other to learn quickly once the Birds of Prey have been formed.

She’s quick to touch those she calls friend, and she just as quick to learn that Helena is very not used to anyone doing that.

The first time she casually touches Helena, it’s a simple pat on the arm, something she’s done with Renee too, and she can tell how close she’s gotten to being punch at how Helena immediately tenses and her hands clench into fists, actually twitching, and only the taller woman’s self-control keeps her from landing a hit right then and there.

She can tell Helena is embarrassed a second later, and so she says nothing, just keeps smiling as if nothing has happened, but it does remain on her mind, she’s met her share of people who are averse to being touched in her life, but she never has gotten a reaction so strong.

Dinah learns from it though, because the last thing she wants is to make Helena uncomfortable; she does still touch her, she can’t really help herself, but she makes sure to not do so too quickly, no unexpected quick pats on her back or shoulder, but deliberate, slow touches, physical affection Helena can see coming and won’t be startled by.

Even when Helena ends up having her ribcage sliced open during a fight one night and it’s Dinah who patches her up, she forces herself to move slow, despite the sense of dread she feels; it’s not a deep cut, but it’s long, and it bleeds quite a bit, and she wants to take care of it quickly, before too much blood can be lost.

She still makes sure to not move hectically, but when she touches the wipe drenched in disinfectant against the wound, the usually stoic Helena lets out a grunt and, with a move so fast her hand almost blurst, grabs Dinah’s wrist; her grip is like steel, for a second, then she seems to realize what she is doing, and Dinah can tell how she slowly makes herself uncurl her fingers, wondering if every instinct she has is screaming at her right now to fight the one who has just hurt her.

“...sorry”, Helena mumbles as she lets go of her; Dinah tells her it’s fine, and is once again willing to just ignore it as she goes back to cleaning the wound, she knows being asked about such things makes Helena uncomfortable and she figures the assassin is in enough discomfort from the injury.

So, it surprises her when Helena speaks up again after a moment, enough to make her pause in her task of cleaning the wound and to look up at her again.

“I’m not used to… that, you know”, she mumbles, staring at some spot behind Dinah’s right shoulder, Dinah has already noticed early in their friendship that she finds it hard to look people in the eye, especially when she’s uncomfortable or embarrassed - and she seems to be somewhat uncomfortable most of the time whenever she isn’t fighting someone, and that makes Dinah’s heart hurt.

“To someone patching you up?” Dinah asks, focusing on exactly that again, even though she’s almost done; Helena clears her throat, and when she responds, her voice is soft, just another signal that this is hard for her.

“To someone touching me”, she says, confirming out loud what Dinah already has been suspecting, but still it makes her heart hurt again. 

She tries not to let it show, because she figures Helena won’t want her to pity her, and might clam up again if she gets the feeling Dinah does; and so, she makes sure to keep her voice light when she replies, not letting any of the pain this makes her feel for the assassin show.

“Well, you know”, she says, glancing up at her and smiling, “you’re in luck then, cause you’ve surely noticed I like touching people. Those I like, they get the touches with my hands, those I don’t like, they get the not so nice touch when I kick them.”

To her relief, this makes Helena smile a bit, and there’s even a hint of amusement in her voice when she responds, in the dry tone she often uses when she’s deliberately joking.

“That’s like saying the people I don’t like get poked with my crossbow”, she points out, and Dinah smirks and shrugs, “bit of an understatement, no?”

“Maybe”, Dinah says with a shrug of her own, “but it’s just you and me right now, so no one has to know. All done here with the cleanup, you want a bandage on that?”

“Nah”, Helena says, at once confident again as this is something she knows, “I’ll let it breathe for a bit. Thanks.”

“No problem”, Dinah reassures her, tossing the bloodied wipe into the trash, “I’ll patch you up anytime.”

She smiles at her, and unexpectedly, their eyes meet; Helena doesn’t look away though this time, even though Dinah can tell it’s hard for her, and she even tops that a moment later by reaching out and touching Dinah’s hand, a slow, careful touch, as if she’s worried she might hurt Dinah if she moves too fast.

“I’m not used to it”, she quietly says, and her breath hitches when Dinah’s fingers curl around hers, “but… I like it. When it’s you.”

She looks like she wants to say more, but can’t find the words, Dinah can practically see how her mind struggles, and she wants to make this better, but she’s not sure if she is reading this right, and doesn’t want to say or do the wrong thing, acutely aware of what an intimate, special moment this is.

“There is”, Helena does start again after a moment, “something else… I’m not used to. Something I’ve never done before. But… I think… I might like it too… with you.”

“I think I might like that, too”, Dinah tells her, and Helena swallows heavily, “do you want to… start? Or should I? Whatever is better for you.”

“You”, Helena manages, voice barely above a whisper now, “please.”

Dinah nods, and still moves slow, even though she just wants to yank Helena closer; she knows better than to do so though, and so she leans in slowly, until her lips brush against the assassin’s, carefully and gently, giving her the chance to pull back, should this not be what she wants. 

Clearly, this is what Helena wants, as she’s the one to increase the pressure; her arms wrap around Dinah and pull her closer, and after a moment, she returns the embrace, glad when it doesn’t lead to any sort of negative reaction.

“I did like that”, Helena mumbles as they pull apart again, cheeks reddening, but once again she doesn’t look away; Dinah smiles and nods, then reassures her she’s liked it, too, her smile widening when Helena asks if they can do it again then.

“As often as you want”, she reassures her, earning a shy but happy smile, “and if you like me touching you, I’ll do that, too, but if you ever don’t want me to, you can tell me, okay? I want this to feel nice for you.”

“Okay”, Helena nods at once, “and I, um, I’ll try to not go into fight mode every time you touch me unexpectedly. I know that’s not… good. Or normal.”

“Not really you fault though”, Dinah tells her, earning a small sigh from her, “and I think I know how to make this better.”

Helena gives her a questioning look, and she smiles, putting her arms around her again to play with the fine hair at the back of her neck; it’s just a small touch, but it makes Helena inhale sharply, and Dinah’s smile widens.

“Well, you know”, she says, fingers still moving tenderly, “I am told I’m giving killer backrubs. Why don’t you sit down, and find out if that’s true?”

Helena more than gladly does. 


	12. Remembrance Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some angst and some fluff on this Friday afternoon :)  
> Helena is more quiet than usual, and Dinah finds out why.

Dinah is used to Helena being quiet.

Even when it’s just the two of them, she’s not one to talk much, something Dinah figures is to be expected after her upbringing, assassins probably aren’t the kind to enjoy small talk during training sessions; she’s used to the assassin not talking much, it doesn’t bother her, it’s not an uncomfortable silence when she’s with Helena.

Dinah is used to Helena being quiet, but on this certain day, Helena appears to be out to set a new record, barely having said three words to her since they’d gotten up in the morning, and now, it’s afternoon.

She’s quiet now too, as Renee details the latest lead she’s gotten; usually, this is when she’s most talkative, coming up with plans and ideas for the mission, asking questions about the location and the perps, but today, she just sits there, and listens, looking as if she’s not even fully there.

Renee finishes her explanation, and tells them they still have some time until they have to get going, and Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing grund before she, without a word, gets up and leaves the room, the sound of her fists meeting the punching bag coming from the adjoining training room a moment later. 

Renee doesn’t seem to think anything of the assassin’s behaviour, and while Dinah worries, she knows that now is not the time, she doesn’t want to talk about Helena behind her back, and so she keeps her concerns to herself, and tries to keep busy until it’s time to head out for their mission.

Helena remains in the training room until then, and on the way there, she doesn’t say anything, either; when they encounter their targets, a drug lord and his minions, she is the first to attack, and with a viciousness Dinah hasn’t seen from her in a while, as if these men somehow had personally wronged her.

Thanks to this, it doesn’t take long until the men are groaning or unconscious on the ground; normally, they would go for victory drinks now, but Helena just mumbles something about seeing Dinah at home before she gets on her bike and drives off, the way she just dismisses her and leaves her standing there hurting Dinah more than she wants to admit.

“Man, poor Crossbow”, Renee comments as she walks up to her, using a tissue to wipe blood off her brass knuckles, “but she’s holding up well, considering what day it is.”

“What day?” Dinah repeats, and at the look Renee shoots her in response, she feels as if she’s missed something crucial, has been missing it all day, and when Renee answers, she wants to smack herself, she can’t believe she’s had no idea.

“Her family?” Renee says, frowning, clearly having been sure Dinah knows this, “today’s the anniversary of… well. You know.”

“Shit”, Dinah lets out, running a suddenly shaky hand through her hair, “and I was wondering why she’s so quiet today, I had no idea. Shit! I acted as if nothing is wrong all day long!”

“You didn’t know?” Renee now does ask, and Dinah groans, then shakes her head; she reminds the cop how young she’s been when the Bertinelli massacre has happened, too young to notice much of it and especially too young to remember the date, but still she tells herself she could have put two and two together, she should have known, should have made this better.

“I had no idea”, she says again, “shit, I have to find her. I have to find her, and be there for her, what kind of girlfriend am I if I don’t?”

“You know where she went, don’t you”, Renee says, and Dinah immediately nods; Reene tells her to go find her girl then and that she’ll take care of the drug pushers, and Dinah hurries to do so, flagging down the next cab she sees as she’s come here with Helena on her bike.

The driver gives her an odd look when she tells him where to take her, but he doesn’t question it; he just drives, and Dinah stares out the window as he does, berating herself for not having known, for not having  _ guessed _ , even though part of her knows that there’s no way she could have just guessed this.

“Stop here”, she instructs the cabbie at the corner close to her destination; he does, and she pays him, tipping well enough to calm any suspicions he might have had, then gets out of the car, immediately spotting Helena a few feet away.

Helena is standing on the sidewalk, staring at the mansion which once has been her home, Dinah is fairly certain the assassin can see her approach from the corner of her eye, she’s always aware of her surroundings, but she doesn’t look away from the large building, just keeps looking through the massive metal gate which makes sure no one can just wander onto the area.

Dinah knows Helena could easily have climbed over that gate, and the windows of the house are dark, she knows that doesn’t mean no one lives there, but it  _ feels _ abandoned; she walks up to Helena and stops by her side, not saying anything, just looking at the house as well, and for a while, they just stand there side by side, in silence.

“No one’s bought it”, Helena finally says, Dinah looking at her at once; the assassin sounds tired now, and a bit sad, and it breaks Dinah’s heart.

“Guess no one wants to live in the place where a dozen people died”, Helena adds, “I checked when I first came back here. I wanted to go inside but… I can’t.”

All Dinah wants is to hug her, hold her close and tell her it’s okay; she knows that Helena has moments when she’s not fond of too close contact, and so, she holds back, relief flooding her when she feels Helena’s fingers curl around hers a moment later as the taller woman is the one to reach out.

“You know they would be proud of you”, Dinah says after a moment, hoping it’s the right thing, a hope which is dashed a second later though as Helena shakes her head, still not looking at her though, keeping her gaze on the dark house, her voice soft when she replies.

“No, they wouldn’t be”, she says, and Dinah’s heart hurts again, “about the vengeance, yeah, probably. About what I do now? Not so much.”

Dinah squeezes her hand, she has no answer to this, even though she knows Helena is right; for a few more heartbeats, Helena looks at the house, then takes in a deep breath and turns away from it, not letting go of Dinah’s hand as she faces her now.

“But that’s okay”, she says, sounding less sad and tired now, to Dinah’s relief, “what they were doing, that is what led to what happened. What I’m doing… what  _ we’re  _ doing… is making this city better. And… you’re making me better. Thank you.”

Dinah has expected this even less than the sudden talking, and for a moment, she can’t even respond, just able to stand there and stare; then, she snaps out of it and now she does hug Helena, and the assassin hugs her back at once, pulls her close and holds her, breathing in her scent as she briefly squeezes her eyes shut.

“I love you”, Dinah mumbles into her ear, it’s not the first time she says this, but it somehow has more weight this time; she feels Helena squeeze her a bit, the taller woman still mindful of her strength, and she whispers “loveyoutoo” into her hair, choked up now, but still capable of saying the words.

They stand in front of what once has been the Bertinelli mansion for a while longer, hugging tightly on the sidewalk; then, Helena pulls back, her eyes are dry and her voice is steady when she speaks up again, and Dinah knows everything will be fine.

“Let’s go home”, Helena says, and Dinah nods, taking her hand again, and as they walk to her bike together, Helena smiles a bit, as well, feeling better with every step she takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a prompt? Hit me up at https://dreamshapers-universe.tumblr.com :)


	13. The One With Just One Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quiet home office time + a post about bed sharing on tumblr = this. Enjoy :D

_ This is bad _ , Helena thinks to herself as she can only stand and stare, feeling sweat form on her brow,  _ this is really, really bad. _

Her fingers itch for her crossbow, but her trusted weapon won’t help her, not with this, there is nothing for her to shoot or to beat up, her foe is immobile, not even alive, and beating it up won’t help her.

_ This is bad _ , she thinks again as Dinah tosses her bag onto the double bed, apparently not as perturbed as Helena is, not even having picked up on yet on how the assassin just stands there and stares at the bed, as if she expects it to grow a row of sharp teeth and gobble them both up.

“Sorry about the mix-up”, Dinah says, glancing at her and giving her an apologetic smile, “there must have been some mistake when I made the reservation, I told them two beds.”

“Um”, Helena lets out, then mentally slaps herself and tells herself not to be such a fool, it’s just one night, and they won’t even spend much time in the room - Dinah has been hired to sing at a friend’s birthday, far away enough from Gotham that it would make no sense to drive there and back for one evening, so they have rented rooms in a hotel near the party location, and here they are now. 

“It’s fine”, Helena forces herself to add, even managing a wry smile, one Dinah seems to buy despite how it feels more like a grimace, as she smiles back at her, “I can, uh… sleep on the floor, I’ve slept in worse places.”

“What”, Dinah says, blinking, then shakes her head, “no way I’m letting you sleep on the floor, this bed is easily big enough for both of us. Come on, we’re friends, that’s what friends do, right?”   


“I… guess…. so?” Helena slowly says, she’s not quite sure - she’s had a sleepover or two before her whole family has been killed, but she can’t remember having shared a bed with one of her few friends back then, but on the other hand, certainly Dinah knows more about this than she does, and she trusts her, and for sure she can pull herself together for one night and sleep next to her.

“Great”, Dinah says with a bright smile, “you got any preferences about which side you sleep on?” 

“No”, Helena tells her at once, she really doesn’t care, and after another smile directed her, Dinah claims the right side then; and after that has been settled, she vanishes into the bathroom to get ready, and Helena sits down heavily on the bed, fighting the urge to groan loudly, the hotel room isn’t that big and she doesn’t want Dinah to hear her in the adjoining bathroom. 

Alcohol, she decides, she’ll just have to drink enough to be very tired so she’ll fall asleep right away, the second they lie down, then she won’t notice that Dinah is next to her,  _ right next to her _ , and there’ll be no danger of her revealing what she’s been feeling for quite some time now. 

This will work, she tells herself, she’ll get tipsy and then she’ll be tired and sleep fast and deep, and it all will be fine.

* * *

It does not work, and it’s not fine.

Apparently, Helena is one of those people who can’t get drunk when they really want to be drunk, and she feels frustratingly sober as she lies there now, staring up at the ceiling, wide awake. 

She’s hyper aware of DInah next to her, they each have their own blanket, but she’s convinced she can still feel the warmth of the singer’s body, she can hear her breathing and whenever Dinah moves just the tiniest bit, Helena freezes.

_ This is bad _ , she thinks to herself, and then Dinah rolls over in her sleep and ends up snuggled against her, one arm draped over her stomach, and her eyes nearly fall out of her head.

_ This is worse! … No, actually, this feels nice. _

She can feel Dinah’s breath on her neck, each time the singer exhales, and when Dinah shifts a bit and sighs in her sleep as she gets more comfortable, Helena finds herself relaxing as well.

She wonders if she can really feel Dinah’s heart beat or if she imagines it, but either way, combined with the slow steady breaths of the singer, it helps her relax further, and before she realizes what is happening, she drifts off into sleep, as well.

* * *

When Helena wakes in the next morning, she feels good and relaxed and well-rested… for about two seconds, then several facts register at once.

Number one, somehow, Dinah and she have moved even closer together during the night, they are beneath the same blanket now.

Number two, her arms have gone around Dinah, one hand is resting on the singer’s back and one on her hip, and she’s fairly certain friends don’t hold each other that way even during sleepovers.

Number three, Dinah has drooled on her in her sleep, which is a bit ew, but she finds it much less gross than she probably should have.

And number four, Dinah is awake and looking back at her so their eyes meet, very aware of the intimate position they’re in.

Fuck.

“Good morning”, Dinah says, as if this is a perfectly normal thing, “slept well?”

“Um, yeah”, Helena manages, not sure if she should pull her arms back - she doesn’t want to, this feels so nice, but she also doesn’t want to make Dinah uncomfortable, on the other hand though, the singer doesn’t look as if she’s anywhere near feeling like that, still cuddled up to her, as if they do this all the time.

“D-did you?” Helena manages, and Dinah nods, then smiles, eyes twinkling as she still looks at the assassin, making it impossible for her to break the eye contact. Not that she truly wants to.

“Oh yes”, Dinah tells her at once, still not moving though, instead, she even moves one hand slightly to run her fingers down the other woman’s forearm, “you’re surprisingly comfy, considering you’re like, made of muscle. I hope you don’t mind I used you as pillow?”

“No!” Helena says just a bit too loud, then snaps her mouth shut and forces herself to take a deep breath, acutely aware that Dinah is watching her closely now, “no, it… it was nice.”

“Happy to hear”, Dinah says, still running her fingers up and down the other woman’s arm, watching how goosebumps form in their wake, “you know… there’s another nice thing we could… try. I’ve been thinking about trying it with you for a while now.”

Helena can only swallow now, all words have left her; she hopes though that Dinah is talking what she thinks she is talking about, and so, she gives a brief nod, just one sharp motion of her head, but Dinah has been watching, and sees.

She carefully props herself up so that she hovers over the assassin, using one hand to keep herself upright - and the other to cup Helena’s jaw, and then she’s kissing her, slow and gentle, letting out a barely audible sigh when the assassin wraps both arms around her again and pulls her close as she kisses her back.

_ This _ , Helena thinks to herself as she loses herself in the feeling of Dinah’s lips on hers,  _ this is the best. _


	14. The One Where They’re Fake Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shipperofdoomedships suggested this in a comment - thanks mate :D I hope this is what you had in mind ;) Fake dating trope, here we go :D

“This is a horrible idea”, Helena says, making a face, “there has to be some other way.”

“None which is as fast as this one”, Renee tells her, she’s not surprised about the assassin’s reaction, “and you know that as well as I do.”

Helena sighs, still not looking all too happy; Dinah takes a moment for a sip of coffee, then smirks at her, and Helena sincerely hopes she doesn’t notice how this sends a flash of heat right into her core, but if she does, she doesn’t let it show, sounding just as always when she speaks up.

“I agree with Renee”, she says, not really surprising Helena, “and come on, it’s gonna be fun.”

“But why do I have to do it”, Helena almost whines, sounding so petulant that Dinah has to bite back laughter, not wanting to make her feel as if she’s laughing at her, “Renee, why can’t you do it?”

“Cause these people know my face”, Renee reminds her, “and also, it will be more believable if it’s Dinah and you. Come on Crossbow, you’ve taken on whole groups of cold blooded killers and that freaks you out?”

“Well, I can’t go around there punching people”, Helena argues in response, Renee and Dinah having to admit that this is a good point, “and you guys know I’m not the best in… anything social.”

“No worries”, Dinah reassures her, she really doesn’t want to do this alone and wants Helena to come with her, just in case something goes wrong, “just follow my lead when we’re there. You have something you can wear, right? Your usual Huntress getup won’t do for that.”

“Yes, I do”, Helena sighs, “and fine. Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Great”, Dinah beams at her, “and you know, you’re lucky I know you better by now, or I would be offended that the thought of being my fake date for an evening makes you pout like that.”

“No no no”, Helena immediately says, her cheeks heating up, Renee hiding her smirk behind her coffee cup, “that’s not… I don’t…”

“Man, Dinah, don’t do that”, Renee now does pipe up, grinning in amusement, “look at poor Crossbow, she’s have gonna have a stroke or something.”

Helena huffs as Dinah laughs and glares at them both, shaking her head to herself as she gets up from her seat; she tells them she’ll make sure her equipment is ready for the evening, and while they both know to be that an excuse so she can escape and calm down again, they just nod, not making any comment.

Helena practically rushes out of the room, and now Renee shakes her head; she gives Dinah a  _ look _ over her cup, but the singer just looks back at her innocently, going as far as batting her eyelashes, to the former cop’s amusement.

“Don’t give me that look”, she then says, “you owe me for that and you know it.”

“Only if it pays off”, Dinah smugly says, and Renee huffs, then rolls her eyes, mumbling something about useless lesbians and bisexuals as she goes to refill her coffee, Dinah smirking to herself, looking forward to their mission in the evening.

She really hopes it will pay off.

* * *

When Helena picks her up that evening for the recon part of their mission, Dinah nearly has her jaw drop to the floor upon opening the door, but she can’t really blame herself for that, she figures as she stares at the assassin.

She’s not sure what she has been expecting when Helena has said that she has something to wear, but it certainly hasn’t been a tailor-made black suit - probably tailored to hide various weapons on her person - complete with button-up shirt and tie; she blinks, then gapes, she has to admit Helena makes this look work, the assassin shuffling nervously at how Dinah stares at her.

“Is this not okay?” she asks, Dinah still taking note of how she gives her a rather unabashed once-over, figuring this means Helena likes the dress she has chosen for the evening; quickly, Dinah shakes her head, then nods, then realizes she is sending mixed signals, and clears her throat.

“It’s perfect”, she says, Helena looking taken aback for a moment before she smiles a bit, “you look great, you really make this work.”

“Thank you”, the assassin says, colouring a bit again, “you look very good, too.”

“Thank you”, Dinah smiles, “shall we, then?”

Helena nods and they make their way downstairs together; Renee hasn’t only organized them an invite for the party held at the house of their current target, a man who’s made it his goal to become the next big mob boss in Gotham, something they want to stop before he can get too big and powerful, but has gotten them a proper car too, a sleek black one which will make them look as if they actually belong there.

Still Helena is nervous as Dinah drives, thinking about a million ways this could go wrong; this is the first time she’s going on a recon mission like this, more or less undercover, and it’s also the first time she has to pretend to be dating someone.

Perhaps, she reflects, staring out the window, this would be easier if it wasn’t Dinah she’d be pretending to date; she might not be good with emotions, or with social skills, but she knows she wants the singer, and having to pretend to be her date for the evening certainly won’t make it easier to keep these feelings in check.

_ It’s just one evening _ , she tells herself, trying hard to not look at Dinah from the corner of her eye, she does look really good in that dress, but then, Helena thinks, she always looks good,  _ you can do this for one evening. _

“There we are”, Dinah says, parking the car in front of the house of the wanna-be-mob-boss, “remember, we mingle a bit, then we try to find his office and see if we can get anything incriminating there. Ready to be a spy?”

“No”, Helena sighs, and she’s even less ready to pretend that Dinah is her date, but she tells herself she can do this and gets out of the car, taking a moment to stretch and to fix her tie before she, remembering how her father often has done with her mother, offers her arm to Dinah, the bright smile the singer gives her as she takes gentle hold of it making her heart stutter dangerously.

She reminds herself that this is all part of the mission, and that helps her slow down her racing heart; she feels nervous again when Dinah hands the invite to the man at the door, but wherever Renee has managed to acquire it, it seems to be legit, as the man just takes one look, then nods and lets them enter.

“Remember”, Dinah whispers as they walk down a short hallway, to the large room where the main event is held, “just follow my lead.”

Helena nods, and obediently trots along next to her as she moves to get them drinks first, then glances around the room for any familiar faces; several people seem to recognize her from Sionis’ club and wave at her, and one of them comes over to talk, Helena giving her best to not blush when Dinah introduces her as her date.

She’s not quite sure she can control her facial colour, but at least the man gives her no weird looks; he just nods and moves on to talk to someone else after some more mindless small talk, and Dinah does the same, Helena once again walking along next to her.

Perhaps, she ponders as Dinah talks and jokes with some other guy who seems to know her, she would feel less out of place if her upbringing had been different; she’d be right at home at such events, had she grown up the way her parents had wanted her to, but as it is, this whole situation puts her on edge, too many people, too much noise, and the fact that Dinah is still holding on to her arm doesn’t exactly help either.

Finally, Dinah decides that they have mingled enough, and discreetly starts moving to the door at the end of the room, the door which they know leads to the rest of the house; they both glance around before they step through, making sure nobody sees them, Helena feeling much more at home at once, this is something she knows, stealth and sneaking around, something she has done many times when she’s still been on her mission. 

“Okay”, Dinah whispers, glancing around, “his office should be somewhere this way. Let’s hope there’s no guards or something.”

As if one cue, a door opens at the other end of the hall, and a man steps out onto the hallway; he hasn’t seen them yet, but they can both see the bulge of a gun under his jacket, and Dinah holds back the urge to curse.

“Follow my lead”, she then says again - and then, she pushes Helena back against the wall, and suddenly she’s kissing her, and Helena feels as if she might die right then and there.

_ This is fake _ , she reminds herself as she kisses her back, even though it doesn’t feel very fake, especially not when one of Dinah’s hands comes up to entangle in her hair and the kiss gets even more passionate,  _ she’s just doing this to show the guy we’re harmless. _

“Uh, uhm, excuse me”, they hear said guy just then, and he sounds so embarrassed it would have made Helena laugh, had the circumstances been different; Dinah pulls back and looks at him with wide-eyed innocence, and he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, clearly not sure where to look as his gaze focuses on everything but the two of them.

“You can’t be here ladies”, he says, gesturing at the door leading back to the party room, “just in there. Here is private.”

“Oh, we’re so sorry”, Dinah says, blinking innocently, “we just wanted a moment to ourselves. Can you just give us one minute? Please?”

“Um, okay, sure”, the guy mumbles, then turns and hurries off, still embarrassed; Helena wonders how he wants to be a ruthless mafia type if he can’t even handle kissing people, then gets distracted as Dinah sighs, looking after him unhappily.

“Damn”, she then says, Helena looking at her, “that is  _ not _ how I wanted our first kiss to go.”

“Eh?” Helena lets out, not very smart or eloquent; Dinah smiles at her, and shrugs, then grabs her hand, gesturing down the hallway.

“I’ll just have to give you a proper first kiss when we’re done here”, she says, and once again Helena can only blink, “unless… you don’t want that?”

“I want”, Helena says at once, blushing again, but quite enjoying the thought, “I, um… I want that a lot.”

“Great”, Dinah beams at her, making her smile as well, “but work first, then play. Come on, let’s find this office.”

She tugs at Helena’s hand, and the assassin goes with her willingly, feeling as if she’s floating now.

She can’t wait to get done here and get a proper first kiss from Dinah once they’re out of here.


	15. First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt I got on tumblr: Can you write one about sleeping together for the first time?  
> This is NSFW. And I'm always a bit reluctant to write actual smut when I'm fairly new to a pairing, so I hope it works. :D

Dinah knows she’s the first person Helena has ever kissed, and while that makes her feel a bit sad for the assassin, for all the things Helena has missed out on during growing up, it also makes her feel special, she wonders sometimes if that makes her a bad or at least weird person, but she can’t help it - she knows how hard it has been for Helena to face what she feels, the woman has gone up on her own against a dozen of men out to kill her, but dealing with her own emotions is frightening for her, and Dinah is happy that Helena has done so, has faced what she feels and has acted on it.

The fact that Helena has never kissed someone before she has gathered all her courage and has kissed Dinah also makes Dinah fairly certain that Helena has never been intimate with anyone; and while she wants to jump her bones, as Renee would have put it, she holds back, she wants to do this at Helena’s pace and not make her uncomfortable by going too far too fast.

There’s been several heated make-out sessions on the couch, and during one of those, Helena has been daring enough to move her hand beneath Dinah’s shirt, but keep it at her back; and while Dinah wants her so much that it hurts during those times (and during other times, too), she holds back, mindful of Helena’s lack of experience.

Now, as they have one of their rare evenings off, they are on her couch again - Helena has a nice, big place, paid for with her family’s money, but it’s somewhat sterile, compared to Dinah’s, and so, they usually end up at her place whenever they spend time together - Dinah snuggled up to the assassin as they’re watching a movie together; and as they do so, the singer takes note of Helena glancing at her every now and then, something which often happens whenever Helena thinks Dinah won’t notice.

Tonight, something is different about those glances though, there’s an odd weight to them which hasn’t been there before; and one time, when Dinah glances back just in time to have their eyes meet, Helena swallows heavily, clearly, something is going on with her, and the singer wonders what it is.

She’s still wondering if she should ask, and how she should ask, when Helena leans in and kisses her, and while they have made out passionately on this couch before, it’s different this time, there’s an urgency to how Helena kisses her this time, as if she  _ has  _ to and something bad will happen if she doesn’t do it.

Dinah is more than happy to kiss her back, the movie soon forgotten as she shifts on the couch for a better angle; and once again, she feels Helena’s hand slide beneath her shirt, up her back… before it moves to her front, carefully, almost hesitatingly, cupping one breast, and before she can stop herself, Dinah arches into the touch, kissing deeply already has turned her on quite a bit and this touch only increases that feeling.

To her dismay, Helena pulls back from the kiss and looks at her, appearing a bit worried now, perhaps, she misinterpreted Dinah’s reaction; all the singer wants is to kiss her again, and touch her and be touched in return, but she doesn’t allow herself to, she can tell Helena wants to say something and she gives her the chance to do so.

“Is this okay…?” Helena asks, and Dinah nods immediately; she has to take a moment for a deep breath so her voice will be steady when she replies, and the whole time, Helena leaves her hand where it is, and either subconsciously or on purpose moving her thumb in slow circles, until Dinah feels like she might implode from that alone.

“More than okay”, she manages, “but, fair warning, if you keep doing that with your thumb, I might lose what little bit of self control I have left and pounce you.”

Helena raises an eyebrow in response - before she moves her hand a bit, but just enough so she can use her index finger and her thumb now, and when she pinches a little bit, Dinah pulls in a sharp gasp, and judging from the little smirk on the assassin’s face, she can tell this has been a noise of pleasure and not of pain.

“Helena Bertinelli”, Dinah brings out, sounding breathless now after all, “you’re playing with fire.”

“Maybe I want to get burned”, Helena says, then kisses her again, and somehow, Dinah ends up in her lap, and Helena keeps doing those amazing things with her fingers and thumb, to both breasts now, until Dinah has to pull back from the kiss if only she can breathe.

“Bedroom?” Helena asks before she can say something, there is more room on the bed than on the couch; Dinah wants to nod at once, but she forces herself to take in a deep breath, and manages to sound somewhat controlled when she responds.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asks, just to be on the safe side; Helena nods at once, then wraps both arms around her and stands, easily picking Dinah up as she does so, it’s not the first time she demonstrates her strength and it’s not the first time it turns Dinah on, but it does so extra much this time.

Quickly, Helena makes her way to the bedroom, and lowers Dinah onto the bed there; they kiss again, and once again Helena’s hand goes beneath the singer’s shirt, and this time, Dinah dares to reciprocate, running her hands up the assassin’s back, smiling into the kiss when she feels Helena shudder at her touch.

“Let me get this off of you”, she mumbles, tugging at the taller woman’s shirt; Helena gives another brief nod, and Dinah pulls the shirt over her head and tosses it aside before she admiringly looks at her, it’s not the first time she gets a good look at Helena’s body, but it’s the first time she does so in this context.

“Hot”, she mumbles as she runs her fingers over the assassin’s bare stomach, smirking when the muscle tenses visibly in response to her touch; she can tell that Helena is getting nervous after all, and decides that her mission for now is to relax her, to make her feel good, and with gentle pressure, she gets the taller woman to lie on her back, ending up hovering above her.

She takes a moment to pull off her own shirt, just so it’ll be fair, throwing it aside so it can join Helena’s shirt on the floor; and this seems to make some of Helena’s nervousness fade, her eyes glazing over a bit as she looks at the singer, her breath noticeably heavier.

“Like what you see?” Dinah asks teasingly, smiling when Helena nods at once; she bends down and kisses her again, in an attempt to make her even less nervous, and when she pulls back again and smiles at her, it’s a gentle and caring smile, one which makes Helena’s heart melt.

“I do anything you don’t like or don’t want me to do, you tell me, alright”, she says, earning another nod, “this is supposed to feel good for you, so let me know if it doesn’t.”

Helena nods again, apparently not trusting herself to speak, and Dinah moves to kiss her again; and as she does, she decides to retaliate, and lets one hand slide down the assassin’s body to her breasts, smirking against her lips when she touches her and immediately gets a moan in response.

“Hmmm”, she lets out, “I like that sound. I’ve wondered about this, you know. How you’d sound when I do… this.”

She moves down a bit, until her mouth can replace her hand, and Helena moans again; Dinah takes her time, making sure both breasts get equal attention, and judging from how heavily Helena is breathing by the time she looks up at her again, she’s quite enjoying herself.

Slowly, giving her time to stop her, should this be too fast, Dinah lets her hand travel downwards, over Helena’s stomach to her pants; her eyes meet the assassin’s, and Helena gives a brief nod, and shortly after that, both her pants and her boxers land in a heap on the floor.

It’s unfair, she has a second to think to herself, she’s naked now while Dinah isn’t… then Dinah touches her again, finds the slick wetness between her legs, and she forgets everything, clinging to the blanket as she finds herself unable to hold back yet another moan. 

“Feels good?” Dinah asks her as she slowly starts moving her fingers; Helena presses out “ _ cazzo” _ between grit teeth in response, and while Dinah doesn’t speak Italian, she’s heard her use that certain word often enough to know what it means.

She smiles, and kisses her again, even though this muffles the moans she enjoys hearing so much as she continues, speeding up a little after a while; and all at once, Helena pulls back from the kiss so she can let out a drawn-out moan, her eyes actually rolling back in her head as the orgasm hits her, and it’s the hottest thing Dinah has ever seen.

She slows her movements down, not stopping from one moment to the next, but gradually slowing down until she does pull back; Helena is panting, flushed and sweaty, and as she recovers from coming, she finds herself to not grin like a fool, Dinah quietly laughing at the look of bliss on her face. 

“I take it you enjoyed yourself”, she then says teasingly; Helena lets out a wordless groan, but seems to recover quickly, as she sits up a moment later, and the glint in her eyes sends a flash of heat right to Dinah’s core.

“I did”, Helena says, her hands moving to the singer’s pants, “and now it’s time to return the favour.”

“Go ahead”, Dinah tells her with a smirk and a wink, moving to lie back on the bed and pulling Helena with her, so that the assassin ends up on top of her now.

Helena, Dinah quickly learns a short while later, is a very fast learner. 


	16. After Combat Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: do you think you could write one about crossbow canary’s first time cuddling?  
> Also featuring Helena carrying Dinah around, cause I have a weird thing for that, lol.

Dinah’s Canary Cry is a sight to behold, even after having seen it a bunch of times already.

Even when they are standing behind her, and are in no danger of being hit by the actual power, Helena and Renee have to cover their ears when Dinah uses it; she’s getting better at controlling it, at stopping before it takes too much of a toll on her, but it still exhausts her, and they all have agreed she won’t use it unless she absolutely has to.

She absolutely has to tonight, the gang they’d gone after has summoned unexpected reinforcements and they’d ended up cornered by the guys and their weapons; Helena can only bring so many bolts for her crossbow, and when she’s run out of bolts and Renee’s out of bullets, Dinah knows she has no other choice.

She tells them to cover their ears, and they do so at once, and then she uses her cry, and it’s a sight to behold, still stunning Helena after having seen it a few times.

It sends men and things flying, she can see that they are shouting in pain, but can’t hear them as Dinah’s cry drowns out everything else; they hit the ground several feet away, and Dinah stops, her knees are weak and she’s staggering, strong arms wrapping around her from behind before she can fall though and keeping her up.

“Here, I’ve got you”, Helena mumbles, she’s not gonna let her girlfriend fall to the dirty floor of this warehouse, “come on, and up you go.”

She shifts her hold a bit so she can pick Dinah up on her arms, and even through the tired haze she’s left in after using the cry, Dinah is impressed by the ease with which she does so, Helena holding her so that her head comes to rest on her shoulder and won’t dangle down uncomfortably.

“Dating for two weeks and already you carry her bridal-style”, Renee jokes as she holsters her gun, Dinah managing a slight smile while Helena huffs; while Renee calls the police so they can get the perps and the evidence, Helena walks ahead to her car, now glad that they all have come here together in one vehicle, there’s no way Dinah could have ridden on her bike with her in her current state and she doesn’t want to leave her out of her sight.

They end up on the backseat together as they wait for Renee, Helena keeping one arm around Dinah’s shoulders, silently reassuring her she’s there; by the time Renee joins them and gets into the driver’s seat, Dinah is half asleep, struggling to stay awake, focusing on the weight of Helena’s arm on her shoulders to keep her from drifting off into sleep.

Somehow, she manages to stay awake during the drive, and even recovers a little bit by the time Renee pulls up to her apartment building; she’s still not very steady on her feet though, so Helena keeps her arm around her waist now, nodding when Renee tells her to take good care of her girl.

“You sure you can walk”, the assassin wants to know as Renee drives off, with a worried look at Dinah, “I can carry you, I don’t mind.”

“I can”, Dinah reassures her, she wouldn’t mind being carried around a bit more, but then she doesn’t want to take advantage of Helena’s willingness to do so, and she does feel a bit stronger at this point; Helena looks doubtful, but nods, keeping her arm around the other woman just to be on the safe side as they walk the stairs up to Dinah’s apartment.

“Here, let me”, Helena says as they enter the apartment, not wanting Dinah to bend over in her current state to take off her boots; she guides her to the bedroom and, once Dinah has flopped down onto the bed, kneels down in front of her to unlace and remove her boots, Dinah lifting her head just enough so she can watch her do so, it feels strangely intimate, but it warms her heart, too, the quiet way Helena cares for her.

Helena’s not good with words, Dinah figures she never will be, but she has other ways to show she cares, and this is just one of them.

“There we go”, Helena says as she straightens up again, “you should get some sleep now.”

“You, too”, Dinah points out, Helena is good at hiding it, but Dinah can tell anyway that she’s tired, “cuddle with me?”

This is a first for their relatively fresh relationship, there has been kissing and snuggling on the couch, but no actual cuddling in bed; for a moment, Helena looks somewhat nervous, but then the thought of how nice this might be wins out over her awkwardness, and she nods, making Dinah smile slightly.

Quickly, Helena pulls off her own boots, then, after a moment, her pants too, figuring they won’t be comfortable for this; and then, she gets into bed next to Dinah, it’s big enough for two, but she still ends up close to the singer, something Dinah immediately takes advantage of as she cuddles up to her.

She does it with ease and naturally, as if they have done this a thousand times already, her head coming to rest on the taller woman’s shoulder while she drapes one of her arms over Helena’s stomach; Helena envies the ease with which she gets close to her, for a moment, she has no idea what to do with herself, how to place her own arms, then she settles on moving them so that she’s embracing Dinah, holding her close to herself, one of her hands coming to rest on her back, the other on her waist.

Dinah lets out a content sigh, and prompts Helena to start rubbing small circles on her back, Dinah has done this for her before and it has felt good, so she figures she might return the favour; and it seems that Dinah enjoys it, as well, as she lets out another sigh, a longer and deeper one this time.

“This feels nice”, she them mumbles, making Helena smile a bit, the assassin proud of herself for apparently doing this right, “I’m gonna fall asleep like that. Sorry in advance in case I drool on you.”

“That’s fine”, Helena reassures her, still rubbing her back, and she keeps doing so until Dinah’s breath has gone calm and slow, signalling she’s fallen asleep; and only once Dinah sleeps deeply, Helena allows herself to drift of as well.

This feels really nice, she still has time to ponder before she falls asleep, she could really get used to this.


	17. Carry On (To Better Things)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is based on / heavily inspired by this [wonderful art by konako](https://konako.tumblr.com/post/616870483012485120). We all know that happened. XD

The last thing Dinah remembers from the amusement park fight is how she’s used her cry, stopped it and has gone down; she’s still seen Harley skate past her, sped up by her power, then there’s a hole in her memory, and the next thing she remembers is waking up in the backseat of Renee’s car, just as Renee has parked at the harbour.

She considers asking as they all sit at the bar and are drinking margaritas, but then Harley steals her car, and that excitement distracts her from finding out what she’s missed out on; and by the time she does remember again, it’s hours later and they’ve moved on from drinking margaritas to having coffee, the three of them aware they should go to sleep, but still too wired to do so after the night they’d had.

Helena has excused herself for a moment, and has walked outside with her phone in hand, Dinah figures she’ll call her assassin dads to tell them she’s finished her list - and  _ that _ is a concept she still needs to wrap her head around, Helena has mentioned them quite casually when Renee has asked her where she’s learned to fight like that, and with that Dinah knows about the Bertinelli massacre, it paints a rather unpleasant picture. 

“So”, she says, mostly to distract herself from the apparently tragic backstory of this woman she finds quite attractive, she never would have thought someone could look hot coming out of a slide and stabbing a guy to death, but Helena certainly has managed, “what did happen after I passed out? I can’t remember.”

“Huntress carried you to the car”, Renee tells her, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world, “and then rushed to her bike to help Harley.”

Dinah can feel her face heat up, while her body, in stark contrast, freezes; she’s been able to tell that Helena is in great shape, it’s hard to miss especially with the sleeveless shirt she’s worn during the fight, but still she’s impressed at the woman just carrying her around, and annoyed that she hasn’t been awake to actually be aware of it.

Renee snickers at how her face is heating up, and Dinah is glad that Helena hasn’t come back inside yet, she can see her on the sidewalk outside, talking on the phone, and that’s good, cause she probably would have died of embarrassment if she had been in here to hear what Renee says next.

“What part of that are you horny about”, she wants to know, snickering again at how Dinah stares at her in response, her mouth actually falling open, “I can’t tell.”

Dinah lets out an unarticulated noise in response, and Renee rolls her eyes, then takes a sip of her coffee, smirking at her afterwards, clearly enjoying herself, it’s not often she sees Dinah so flustered and she’s determined to get the most from this, too entertained to show some mercy.

“It’s probably both”, she ponders out loud, and somehow, Dinah blushes even deeper, “I mean, I  _ have  _ noticed the way you’re checking her out, can’t blame you, if I was twenty years younger… And the bike is a bonus, too. Harley did say she was quite good at riding it.”

“Shut up”, Dinah hisses, seeing how Helena tucks her phone into her pocket outside and starts to walk back to the door, “she’s coming back in, if you say anything to her I’ll kill you!”

“You shouldn’t say such things to a cop”, Renee says evenly, and just then Helena steps back inside, and thankfully, the threat seems to have worked, as Renee just finishes her coffee and puts the cup down, then declares she has some stuff to do at the police station and that she’ll see them later.

Only when she’s out the door, Dinah realizes this has been the perfect excuse to leave her alone with Helena, and she’s not sure if she should curse Renee’s name or be thankful.

“So”, she says, just to break the silence before it can become uncomfortable, “I hear you carried me to the car when I passed out last night?”

“Oh yeah”, Helena says, as if it’s no big deal, perhaps she’s not aware that people in average aren’t strong enough to carry around others, and certainly not when they’re unconscious and basically dead weight, “I mean, we couldn’t just leave you there. Also Renee said I should do it cause I’m jacked, that’s what she called it.”

“Well, you are”, Dinah tells her, with a look of appreciation, “and, um… thanks. I appreciate it.”

“No problem”, Helena shrugs, and Dinah smiles at her; and after a moment, the assassin smiles back, a brief and somewhat tight smile, but it’s a smile, and it makes Dinah’s heart beat faster.

She really regrets now she hasn’t been awake to experience being carried around by the assassin.

* * *

The next time Helena carries her on her arms, she’s wide awake and fully aware, and she wishes she wasn’t.

The fight has gone so well at first, she grumpily thinks as Helena lifts her up on her arms, the ease with which she does so impressing her despite her annoyance at the need for it, they’re working well as a team together at this point, but she has learned the hard way that fighting up on a rickety shelf in an abandoned warehouse is not a good idea.

She’s taken down the guy who’d tried to flee to up there, of course she has, but when he’s gone down, the shelf has broken, and she’s fallen, and when she’s tried to get up, her ankle refused to support her, already swollen to a disconcerting degree by the time Helena and Renee find her.

Technically, she figures she could have hopped along if Renee and Helena had supported her left and right, but she hasn’t even had the chance to suggest this - Helena has taken one look at her ankle, let out a “tsk” sound and then she’s picked her up, but at least this time, Dinah is awake and not just limply hanging in her hold.

For a moment, she’s not quite sure what to do with her hands, then she just thinks  _ fuck it _ , she’s been hitting on Helena ever since they’ve started this crime fighting group, and she might as well make her interest more obvious at this point, because clearly subtle flirting is not working.

So, she wraps her arms around Helena’s neck, under the pretense of steadying herself; she feels the assassin falter, just for a second, and Renee catches her eye, raising an eyebrow and Dinah shrugs in response, and while this doesn’t change the rhythm of Helena’s steps this time, it gets her another reaction.

“Stop fidgeting”, she says, somewhat strict, but Dinah knows she doesn’t mean it as harsh as it has sounded, “or I’ll end up dropping you.”

“Sorry”, Dinah says, giving her best to hold still now; Helena lets out a vague grunt in reply, and Dinah is almost sad when they reach her car, as it means that Helena will put her down now.

“I’ll drive you home”, Helena says, to her surprise, she hasn’t quite expected that, “there’s no way you can drive with your foot looking like… that.”

“But your bike”, Dina protests at once, “you drove it here, you just gonna leave it here?”

“I can get it later”, Helena says with as she lowers her onto the passenger seat, in a tone that allows no arguing back; and so, Dinah falls silent, shrugging again at the look Renee shoots her as she walks to her own car.

“You do know how to drive a car, right”, Dinah wants to know as Helena gets into the driver’s seat, “I don’t ever have you seen drive one. Just your bike.”

“Course I know”, Helena says a bit gruffly, starting the engine; a second later, it dies again as she tries to get the car moving, and she grumbles as she tries again, Dinah smirking to herself at how the assassin furrows her brow at the car, as if it has done this to personally piss her off.

Her second attempt is more successful, and while she does kill the engine two more times on the way to Dinah’s apartment, they make it there with themselves and the car in one piece; and once she has parked in front of Dinah’s building, she picks her up on her arms again, ignoring the weak protests of the singer as she walks to the front door.

“I can walk, you know”, Dinah says, contradicting herself as she wraps her arms around the assassin again, purely for safety, of course, “if you support me, I can just… hop along.”

“It’s fine”, Helena tells her, and Dinah has to bite back a comment about how it most certainly is fine to feel the other woman’s muscle bulge against her back and thighs, she’s worried this might startle Helena into actually dropping her; they need a bit of maneuvering so she can unlock the front door, and again once they are in front of her apartment door, with Helena breathing a bit heavier after making her way up the stairs, but if she had been completely unaffected even by that, Dinah would have found it somewhat disconcerting.

Once she’s opened her door, Helena makes her way to the couch, and carefully lowers her onto it; Dinah isn’t quite sure what to expect next, but it’s not that Helena vanishes into her kitchen, her voice calling out to her a short while later.

“Don’t you have an icepack?” she wants to know, sounding as if she can barely believe she has to ask this; Dinah smirks to herself, she’s seen the first aid kit Helena has at her home and it’s absurdly big, while she barely has the basics at her home, just enough to take care of minor injuries, and nothing for sprained ankles.

“No”, she thus calls back, amused when she can hear Helena huff, “there’s frozen peas in the freezer though, those will do.”

There’s another huff, but it’s followed by the sound of her freezer opening and closing, so Dinah figures it’s alright after all; it takes Helena longer to come back than it should though, if she’s just getting the peas, and when she finally does return to the living room, she’s not holding a bag of frozen peas, but a bulging dishtowel, shrugging at the questioning look Dinah shoots her.

“Ice cubes”, she then says, “better than frozen peas. Put your leg up on the couch? You should keep it elevated you know.”

Dinah does so, grimacing as this sends a fresh flash of pain through her leg; Helena notices, and gives her a sympathetic look, crouching next to the couch afterwards, warning her that this will hurt before she pulls her boot off, as carefully as she can, but it still hurts.

“You sure it’s not broken”, she says as she eyes her ankle, it’s swelling up even more now that the boot isn’t restricting it anymore; Dinah shakes her head, she’s not actually quite sure, but she really doesn’t want to go to the hospital right now, and she tells herself it certainly would hurt more if the bone really had been broken.

“Okay”, Helena says, “but if this doesn’t get better until tomorrow, you have to go to the hospital. Careful now.”

She carefully wraps the icecube towel around her leg, and Dinah can’t hold back a grunt at the sudden cold; Helena gives her an apologetic look, doesn’t stop though, making sure the towel sits properly and won’t slide off before she gets to her feet again.

“Thank you”, Dinah sighs as the ice is doing its thing and numbs the pain, and she’s fairly certain the swelling is already going down, as well, “you’re good at this. And it’s really impressive how you can carry me around, you know.”

“I’ve had a sprained ankle before”, Helena says, cheeks colouring a bit, just enough to let Dinah notice, “and, well… I… work out. A lot.”

“Yeah, I figured”, Dinah says, suddenly daring and reaching out to take tender hold of the other woman’s forearm, giving a slight squeeze and nodding in appreciation, “like Renee said, you’re jacked. Lucky for me.”

“I suppose so”, Helena mumbles, looking at Dinah’s hand on her arm as if she can’t quite believe this is really happening, “so, um… you want a drink or a snack or anything? You shouldn’t walk around for a while, you know.”

“I’m good”, Dinah reassures her, gesturing at the couch, still feeling daring as Helena hasn’t reacted badly to her touch, “come sit with me? You can help me keep my leg up.”

Helena isn’t sure how she can help with that if she’s just sitting there, but she sits down anyway, and a moment later, she learns how as Dinah places both feet in her lap with ease, as if they have done this a thousand times; she flushes, but tells herself to not be stupid, this is nothing, she tells herself, certainly less intimate than carrying Dinah around the way she has.

“Relax”, Dinah says, having noticed how Helena has tensed up, “I promise I’m not gonna use this position to kick you in the face or something, I’m your friend.”

“I’m not worried you’ll kick me in the face”, Helena says, rolling her eyes, but she does relax, so Dinah has reached her goal and smiles, “I’m just not… used. To this.”

“Says the woman who’s carried me around twice now”, Dinah points out, “I was closer to you then than I am now.”

“That was different”, Helena mumbles, shrugging when Dinah shoots her a questioning look; she takes a moment to find the right words, finding it hard to look Dinah in the eye as she tries to explain.

“That was part of the mission”, she says, Dinah not interrupting her, sensing she has more to say, “teammates don’t get left behind. This is… not the mission. Anymore.”

“You don’t have to stay, you know”, Dinah takes pity on her, and gvies her a way out, “I’ll be fine, really.”

“No”, Helena says, just a bit too fast, and after a moment of hesitation, places both hands on the singer’s legs, making her smile again, “this… this is okay. It’s nice.”

“I’m glad”, Dinah says with another smile, and after a moment, Helena returns it; Dinah relaxes, and she can feel and see that Helena does the same, and that makes it easy to forget the pain from her sprained ankle.

Being carried around by Helena certainly has been nice, she decides, despite the unpleasant reason for it; but this right now is even nicer, just sitting here with the assassin, and Dinah is fairly certain that this has been an important step, that soon, this will lead to something even better. 


	18. Ever Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the perks of home office is that I listen to songs I haven't heard in ages, and as my brain reacts very strong to music, it spat out this when I had Century Child by Nightwish playing.  
> Dinah can't find the right words to tell Helena how she feels, so she uses music instead.  
> Probably not exactly a song Dinah would actually go for, but freedom of art, heh. The song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiiw0-ZW1DU

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me”, Renee grumbles as she enters the bar Harley has chosen for their victory drinks, she’s teamed up with the Birds of Prey to take down a group of guys who’d tried to get protection money from a store in her neighbourhood; Dinah suspects Harley wouldn’t have cared much if it hadn’t been for the fact that Cassandra often goes to this store, because they have an awesome slurpee machine, and has been there one time to witness the men demanding money, and has been quite upset when she’s come home.

So, Harley has called them, and has asked for help, and they have more than gladly gone there to help out - Dinah also suspects that Harley has just wanted an excuse to hang out with them, it’s just been three guys, not a challenge at all, Harley could have taken them alone, but has preferred to share the fight with the Birds of Prey, short and one-sided as it had been.

“What, what”, Harley says, waving Hi to someone she apparently knows, even though the guy doesn’t look happy to see her, actually shrinking in his seat, “it’s a karaoke bar! It’ll be fun! Come on Canary, you’re with me on this, aren’t you.”

“Well, I haven’t sang up on stage in a while”, Dinah says, having to admit that she misses it, she’s always loved singing and while she sings for herself at her home, it’s not the same as doing so in front of an audience, even if it has been an uncaring audience like at Sionis’ club.

“I’m not gonna sing”, Renee declares at once, and no one’s surprised when Helena says that she won’t, either; they both seem fine with having a few drinks here though, and so they find a booth, Harley declaring she’ll get the first round, dragging Renee along to the bar to help her carry the drinks, Dinah watching them go, perfectly aware of what they are doing.

It has become sort of a thing, she has realized lately, for them to make sure Helena and she get some time alone; they find excuses to leave them alone at the warehouse they use as their headquarters, they find excuses when they go out for drinks like that, and tonight, Harley hasn’t even protested when Helena has offered Dinah to take her along on her bike.

They must be aware of how she looks at Helena, then, Dinah figures, so it drives her crazy that the woman in question herself seems to have no idea.

“Do you miss it?” Helena’s voice distracts her from her thoughts, and she looks over at her, because of course they are sitting side by side, they somehow always end up doing this, “the singing, I mean?”

“Yeah”, Dinah says at once, and as always when they are alone like this, Helena’s attention is fully on her, the assassin watching her as she talks, even though Dinah is fairly certain she’d still notice if anyone tried to sneak up on them or something, “my mother, she… I often sang with her, you know. She taught me all the warmup exercises for my voice and how to breathe right and all that. I don’t miss doing it at Sionis’ club, but I miss it in general.”

“I could tell that you enjoy it”, Helena says, making Dinah smile a bit, “when I was there, going after Zsasz. I was… I couldn’t believe no one would pay attention to you. You were so good up there and they just sat there and talked and laughed, I couldn’t understand that.”

“They were used to me, I guess”, Dinah says, touched - she’s known Helena has been to the club when she’s been after Zsasz, but so far, Helena never has mentioned anything about her singing there, and the fact that the assassin has enjoyed it makes her feel nicely warm and tingly inside. 

“Well, then I suppose I better sing something”, she adds, feeling a bit daring now, after how Helena has just complimented her, “since you enjoyed it.”

“I’d like that”, Helena says solemnly, and the warm and tingly feeling increases; Dinah gives her another smile, and after a moment, the assassin smiles back, and Dinah wants to yank her close and kiss her, telling herself not to be ridiculous though, grabbing the folder with the available songs to distract herself before she might do anything rash.

As she looks through the selection, Renee and Harley come back with the drinks; they all take a moment to clink their glasses and bottles together, then Dinah focuses on the song list again, a vague plan forming in her mind.

She might not be able to outright tell Helena how she feels, but perhaps she can tell her through song; she knows now Helena’s attention will be on her when she sings, and she’s determined to make good use of that. 

A certain song catches her eye, it’s normally not her genre, but she knows it from one of the barkeeps who’d made her listen to it, claiming that the singer’s voice is great, and she’s had to agree with that; and she remembers the lyrics, well enough to know they will work for what she has in mind, and she’s fairly certain she can make it work with her style of singing, even if it differs from the original version.

Still she doesn’t want to rush to the man responsible for the karaoke part of the bar right away, taking some time to sit with her friends and have her drink first; and as they talk and laugh about their latest exploits, she notices Helena glance at her every now and then, when the assassin thinks she’s not noticing, and every time the tingly feeling comes back. 

She finishes her drink and nods when Renee asks if she wants a refill as well; then she gets to her feet, and declares it’s time for her to sing now, Harley cheering and clapping her hands while Helena smiles a tiny, but genuine smile, the way she looks forward to the song warming Dinah’s heart again. 

Feeling spurred on by this, she goes to talk to the karaoke guy, telling him her song choice; he lets her know she can go up right after the guy currently butchering a Queen song is done, there’s not been many requests yet, and Dinah’s somewhat glad about it, feeling nervous now, and if she doesn’t have to wait for too long, it reduces the chances that she’ll get too nervous and back out.

“Up next we got Dinah”, the karaoke guy distracts her from thoughts, “with Ever Dream. Enjoy!”

There’s polite applause as she gets onto the stage and takes the mic; the song starts out fairly tame, just piano and her voice, and she’s thankful for the screen displaying the lyrics, she has heard the song a couple of times, but doesn’t know it by heart.

_Ever felt away with me  
_ _Just once that all I need  
_ _Entwined in finding you one day_

_Ever felt away without me  
_ _My love, it lies so deep  
_ _Ever dream of me?_

Her gaze moves up to meet Helena’s as the song grows heavier, and there’s nothing for her to sing for a few moments; Helena is staring back at her with an intensity that it would have made her fidget, had she not been up on stage, and she’s certain all at once that Helena is very aware for whom Dinah is singing this.

_Would you do it with me  
_ _Heal the scars and change the stars?  
_ _Would you do it for me  
_ _Turn loose the heaven within_

Perhaps, Dinah reflects as she sings, “would you do it with me” is a bit crass, and she can actually see Helena blush, before she gets to the next line which makes the context a bit less dirty; still Helena is staring at her as if she’s the only person in the room, maybe even on the _planet_ , not even reacting when Harley pokes her in the side, looking impatient, as if she’s been trying to get her attention and has failed.

_I'd take you away  
_ _Castaway on a lonely day  
_ _Bosom for a teary cheek  
_ _My song can but borrow your grace_

Dinah can’t remember the last time someone has watched her sing with such intensity, Helena doesn’t even react when Harley waves her hand in front of her face, and Harley gives up at last, Dinah holding the assassin’s gaze as she continues, only breaking the rather intense eye contact to glance at the screen with the lyrics.

Even when she’s not looking back at her, she can feel Helena’s eyes on her, and it feels good, amazing even, to be looked at with such intensity.

_Your beauty cascaded on me  
_ _In this white night fantasy_

Again she can see Helena colour at this line, and even Harley raises an eyebrow, then smirks, while Renee rolls her eyes as she takes a sip of her drink; the song reaches its end, and as she sings the final line, she makes sure to hold Helena’s gaze yet again, not needing the monitor anymore for this part.

_Ever felt away without me_   
_My love, it lies so deep_   
_Ever dream of me?_

The song ends and the patrons cheer; Helena looks dazed as she applauds, and while Dinah puts the mic back into the stand, Harley grabs Renee’s arm and practically drags her off, the singer feeling quite grateful as this will give her some more alone time with the assassin, something which she figures can’t hurt after the performance she just has given.

She moves back to their table and sits down next to Helena, the taller woman keeping her eyes on her the whole time; and as Dinah gets comfortable next to her, she clears her throat, and Dinah can tell she has to struggle to keep the eye contact up now, but she doesn’t allow herself to look away.

“I do”, she says, quietly so no one else can hear, “dream of you.”

Dinah just smiles at her in response, and then leans in to kiss her, and Helena kisses her back at once, arms wrapping around her as they forget all about where they are, unaware of Renee and Harley watching from the bar with a surprisingly identical satisfied smirk. 

By the time they pull apart again, Dinah’s really glad that they have gone to this certain bar for the night.


	19. Two Little Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Random fluff I wrote during quiet time at work. Helena and Dinah say certain words for the first time.

When she has returned to Gotham, Helena has expected many things to happen, from finishing her list to getting hurt or even killed in the process, or perhaps to end in prison, she knows she’s good at what she does, amazing even, but that doesn’t mean that nothing could have gone wrong during her mission.

What she certainly hasn’t expected is to end up as part of a team of crime-fighting vigilantes, and she’s expected it even less that she would begin dating one of them after a few weeks of silently pining.

She’s already been attracted to Dinah when they have met at the amusement park, even though she’s ended up yelling at her about her allegedly non-existent rage issues; this attraction has grown when she has seen how competent Dinah is at fighting, a weird thing to like perhaps, but then she has been raised to be a fighting machine, and she figures it makes sense for her to look for someone with similar qualities.

When they have started working together, she’s also realized how big Dinah’s heart is, how loving she is with her friends and close ones, and that has only made her fall harder; still she hasn’t made a move, quietly longing instead, convinced someone like Dinah never could want someone like her.

Dinah has proven her wrong one evening a few months ago, when it’s been just the two of them at their headquarters - by simply kissing her, pretty much out of nowhere, at least it has been for her, Dinah has claimed that she’s been dropping hints the size of anvils, but apparently, Helena has even managed to not notice those.

She’s been scared at first, she sometimes still is, scared that she’ll mess this up and not only ruin the relationship, but the team, as well; it works out fine though, it works so fine that it worries her sometimes she’s missing something, it seems so easy to date Dinah, they hardly ever fight and if they do, they always make up quickly.

They’ve even kinda sorta moved in together at this point - not officially, but Dinah is spending more and more time at Helena’s apartment, and gradually, a lot of her stuff has found its way to there, too, and Helena assumes it’s only a matter of time until the singer will live with her fully, she’s never seen herself as the domestic type, but she enjoys this, she enjoys falling asleep next to Dinah and waking up next to her and spending time with her when they’re not out fighting crime.

“So”, Dinah distracts her from her ponderings about all the unexpected, but wonderful ways her life has developed, “what do you wanna do for dinner? Maybe nothing which leaves us too stuffed if we go out to kick ass later.”

“I can get us something from the deli on the corner”, Helena offers, making the singer smile as she knows why the assassin is so fond of that certain store, they have quite the selection of Italian meats and cheeses, and Helena has begun introducing her to wide variety her childhood homeland has to offer, “sandwiches maybe?”

“Sounds good”, Dinah agrees, “get me a soda, too? Lemon if they have?”

“Sure”, Helena shrugs, already rising from the couch; Dinah gives her another smile, then leans in for a brief, but gentle kiss.

“Thanks babe”, she says once she’s pulled back and Helena moves to put on her boots, “love you.”

Helena freezes, Dinah realizes what she’s just said, and goes wide-eyed - they haven’t said those words yet, and while she hasn’t had a certain plan to say them, she certainly hasn’t been planning for them to just slip out like this.

On the other hand though, it has felt simply natural to say it like that, and it’s something she’s been feeling for quite a while now; and when Helena smiles widely after another moment, Dinah knows it has felt right for her too, her heart swelling at how happy the taller woman looks now.

“Love you too”, Helena says, and Dinah finds herself unable to hold back a giddy grin, “be right back.”

She finishes pulling on her boots, and as she steps out, she can’t stop herself from pumping her fist in triumph, hearing Dinah laugh behind her at her antics, and she can’t stop grinning as she heads downstairs, she might look like a fool, but she doesn’t care.

She loves Dinah and Dinah loves her and all is well. 


	20. New Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: I was hoping that you could write Dinah using a strap on with Helena for the first time?  
> This is smut. That is all. XD

It hasn’t taken long for Dinah and Helena to establish a routine once they’ve started dating, for the nights they go out as the Birds of Prey with Renee and kick criminial butt.

Helena showers first, then Dinah - and while Dinah isn’t averse to shower sex in principle, it’s not really an option after a night out fighting, usually, they are grimy and dirty and sometimes bloody, so sex in the shower is saved for other days, days when they not have been out and about fighting people.

Usually, after the showers, the adrenaline is still high when they both have cleaned up, and they have sex then, heated passionate sex which Dinah calls “glad we’re still alive” sex, as opposed to the slower and more gentle moments they share on lazy afternoons; Helena and she have been together for a while now, but she doesn’t think she will ever tire of Helena’s hands on her body, of her lips on her skin.

Tonight, their routine is changed, and it’s all because of her bathroom clock.

She notices it has stopped working when she gets out of the shower, and makes a face, she uses that clock all the time when she’s getting ready for the day; and so, she calls out to Helena as she towels her hair dry, raising her voice to make sure she’ll be heard.

“Helena, babe”, she says, unaware of what will happen in a few minutes, “the clock in here died. Get me the batteries from the nightstand?”

She gets a vaguely agreeing noise from Helena in reply, followed by the sound of a drawer opening; then, there’s silence, and Dinah waits for Helena to bring her the batteries.

She waits, and waits, and waits a bit longer, and then finally frowns and goes to see what is taking the assassin so long, she’s been fairly certain that Helena’s not been hurt during their nightly exploits, but then, the assassin does have a tendency to keep injuries hidden, it wouldn’t be the first time and suddenly Dinah is worried.

Her worries dissipate when she steps into the bedroom, but she still falters, completely having forgotten that she’s been keeping  _ this _ in the nightstand.

“What the fuck is that”, Helena says, turning around to face her, holding the strap-on by one of the leather belts, eying it, Dinah notes, not with dislike, but looking slightly intrigued, the singer figuring that this is a good sign, especially since seeing Helena standing there and holding the thing is quite the turn on already.

“That’s Joel”, Dinah tells her, making her look at her again, “my strap-on. I guess you’ve never used one of those before?”

“ _ Joel _ ?” Helena repeats, ignoring the question about her experience for the moment, “you’ve named that… thing?”

“Yeah”, Dinah says with a shrug, stepping closer to her and trailing her fingers down her bare stomach, the batteries and the clock for the moment forgotten, “he has been with me for a while, don’t call him a thing, you’ll hurt his feelings. And I have to say, you holding him looks good already, I wonder how much hotter you’d look wearing him.”

She wouldn’t have suggested that if Helena hadn’t looked intrigued, but she has noticed the way the assassin’s gaze has strayed to the toy as she has spoken, and it does so again now, and Helena swallows heavily, a clear sign she’s turned on, Dinah knows how to read her by now and she can tell at once that the taller woman is aroused.

“I, um”, Helena brings out, voice hoarse, another good sign, “I’ve never…”

“I’ll show you”, Dinah offers at once, smiling when Helena nods immediately, not hesitating for a second; thankfully, Helena by now has learned that putting on clothes after a shower is a waste of time, so Dinah doesn’t have to remove anything, already feeling her own arousal build when she gets to work, carefully strapping the harness onto the assassin’s lean form, taking note of how Helena’s breath quickens whenever her fingers brush her skin in the process.

“Hot”, she mumbles as she pulls back to take a look at the result of her work; Helena is looking down at herself, eying the strap-on, a bit nervous now, but still too intrigued to change her mind, and she knows the glint in Dinah’s eyes well when she looks up again and their eyes meet.

Dinah takes a moment to smile at her, then pulls her in for a kiss, one which quickly grows heated; she can feel the toy press against her stomach as she pulls Helena closer, and this only turns her own further, it has been quite a while since she’s made use of Joel, and she has thought of bringing it up to Helena, so she’s quite glad that the assassin has stumbled upon him all on her own.

One of Helena’s hands slides between her legs, finding the wetness there and making her moan into the taller woman’s mouth; there’s never much time for foreplay when they do this after a night out, and she’s even more impatient now, suddenly aching for her release, so she takes firm hold of Helena and moves backwards, pulling the assassin with her until she’s flat on her back on the bed and Helena is on top of her.

Helena cups her breast and gives a slight squeeze, earning another moan, Dinah can tell from the way Helena is kissing and touching her that she’s just as eager to get to the main event; and so, she pulls back from the bed, and looks her in the eye, deciding to be blunt, amused when Helena blushes a bit despite how often they’ve been intimate together already.

“Enough foreplay”, Dinah tells her, idly tracing her spine as she speaks, “I want you to fuck me. Now.”

Helena can oddly nod, but Dinah knows she tends to go quiet when she reaches a certain level of arousal, so she knows this is a good sign; for a moment, the assassin looks insecure, and Dinah reaches down to guide her, keeping her other hand on Helena’s back in quiet reassurance as she tells her what to do.

“Go slow at first”, she instructs, earning another nod, “don’t worry about hurting me or anything, I’ll let you know, okay?”

Helena nods again, then dares to move, slowly pushing her hips forward; Dinah lets out a pleased moan as she feels the toy go inside her, she’s far from dissatisfied with what Helena usually does to her in bed, but this is new and exciting, and her good reaction spurs Helena on further, as well, the assassin getting a bit more daring as she pushes inside her fully, then stops, giving her a few moments to adjust.

Then, she starts to move, slow and careful at first, a bit faster when Dinah lets out another moan; the way the singer groans “shit,  _ yes _ ” when she speeds up only encourages her further, and she gets more daring, feeling Dinah’s nails dig into her back, a good sign, she knows, a sign she is doing something right.

“Keep going”, Dinah pants into her ear, then bites down on the sensitive skin of her throat and making her groan as well, “babe, yes, just like that. Just keep going like that… shit!”

Helena grunts in response, this is taking more strength than she would have thought, and she’s glad she’s in good shape; thanks to her strength and stamina, she can keep going just as Dinah wants her to, and it doesn’t take long until Dinah clings to her, nails digging into her back as the orgasm hits her.

“Fuck”, Dinah groans out, Helena not slowing down, not yet, she can tell this can go on just a bit longer, make it even better for the singer, “fuck, yes,  _ Helena… _ !”

She lets out an unarticulated moan as she can’t find any further words, just clinging to the assassin; and now, Helena does slow down, then stops fully, giving her a bit to recover before she slowly pulls back, Dinah moaning again at the sensation.

“Shit”, she manages another minute later, as Helena settles down next to her, the toy still jutting upwards from her hips, and it should have looked ridiculous, Dinah thinks to herself, but it just looks hot, “are you sure you’ve never done this before? Because… wow. Holy shit Helena.”

“You know I’m a fast learner”, Helena says with a small shrug, but she does look a bit smug - not that Dinah can blame her, the singer thinks to herself; she rolls her eyes at the response, then smiles as she leans in for a brief, but gentle kiss, eyes glinting again when she pulls back.

“Let me get this off of you now”, she then says, fingers already moving to do so, “and then, I’ll take care of you.”

Helena smirks, and nods, raising her hips so Dinah can pull the harness off of her; she carelessly tosses it aside, prompting Helena to mumble “poor Joel”, the singer rolling her eyes again before she moves to kiss her, thoroughly rewarding her for how happy she’s made her minutes ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, writing Dinah/Helena smut is a very nice way to end the weekend. XD


	21. As Prescribed By Doctor Bertinelli

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: I’ve seen a lot of Helena gets hurt fics but Id love a Dinah gets hurt fic!!

Helena is very familiar with rage and anger.

It’s what she has felt for more than half of her life, ever since her family has been gunned down in front of her; for fifteen years, the rage has fuelled her, has given her the strength and resilience she has needed to go after the men who’ve killed her family and avenge them.

Being part of a team has helped her temper the rage, and being in a relationship with Dinah has done so even further; she still gets angry, but not as quickly anymore as she has before the Birds of Prey have begun working together, the mere presence of her girlfriend being enough to dampen the fire burning within her.

Being with Dinah has tempered her rage, but tonight, she sees one of the thugs they’re fighting pull a knife, she’s too far away to effectively do anything, the knife flashes and Dinah goes down with a yelp of pain, and the rage flares so bright that her world is drenched in red for a few seconds.

It would have taken her merely another five seconds to load her crossbow, but that seems to merciful now, and so, she pulls one of her own knives and goes after him with a snarl; he turns just in time to see her advance, but before he can do more than have his eyes widen, Helena is upon him and rams the knife into him and yanks it upwards, and he goes down, gurgling as blood runs from his mouth and spurts from his stomach.

Helena knows he’s as good as dead, will be in a few minutes, but he has hurt Dinah, so it’s not enough, what she has done to him is not enough, and so she stabs him, once, twice and for a third time, and only then she stops, breathing a bit heavier now, the rage slowly subsiding again as she feels his blood cool on her skin.

_ Dinah. He hurt Dinah. Make sure Dinah is okay. _

She takes a moment to wipe the knife on his shirt and to sheathe it, then she practically rushes to where Dinah is still on the ground; the singer is struggling to sit up, and that is a good sign, she’s conscious, but there is a lot of blood drenching her shirt at her side, and that is worrying Helena, her voice just frantic enough to let Dinah notice when she kneels down next to her.

“No, don’t move”, Helena says, eyeing the cut, the blade has gone straight through Dinah’s jacket and shirt and has bit into the skin beneath, and it looks like it will need stitches, “fuck, he really got you, wait…”

She rips off part of her own shirt, not caring she’s ruining it in the process, and presses the piece of cloth against the wound; Dinah lets out a grunt of pain, but she knows this has to be done, and so she doesn’t protest or try to stop Helena, merely slumping back down as the pain takes its toll on her.

From the corner of her eye, Helena takes note of another guy coming back to his feet, apparently he hasn’t been hit hard enough, and this time, she does use her crossbow, the guy going down again a moment later, and as he has been the last one standing, she can focus on Dinah again the second he hits the ground.

“Can you hold this there?” she asks, guiding the singer’s hand to the cloth on her injury, “I’ll get you to the car, come on, this will hurt but I’ll be careful…”

She moves to pick Dinah up on her arms and the singer groans in response, immediately making Helena feel bad, but she knows it can’t be helped, there’s no other way she can get Dinah to the car, all she can do is be careful as she carries her there.

So she walks slower than usual, and tries to not jostle the singer around too much; it’s a bit of a challenge to get her into the backseat without moving her too much, but she manages, and ends up next to her, not wanting to let her out of her sight if it can be avoided.

“You’ll be fine”, she mumbles as she puts a careful arm around her, earning a weak smile from Dinah, and she figures that has to be a good sign, “we’ll go to my place, I can take care of this there. Okay?”

Dinah nods in response, Helena giving her a smile which she hopes is reassuring, but feels more like a grimace on her face; she moves her hand to press the cloth on the wound again, it gets fresh blood onto her fingers but she doesn’t care, it’s not the first time there’s blood on her hands and she figures it won’t be the last.

It’s the first time she has Dinah’s blood on her hands though, and she certainly hopes that won’t happen again anytime soon.

Renee just has to take one look at Helena to know how anxious she is to get this wound taken care of, while Dinah herself seems relatively calm; and so, she more or less ignores the speed limit as she drives to Helena’s home, something she normally doesn’t do, but she figures it can be forgiven this time.

“Take good care of her”, she says once she parks in front of Helena’s apartment building, Helena letting out a vaguely agreeing noise in reply; she’s glad no one is on the street to see when she helps Dinah out of the car and picks her up again, the last thing they need now is the police on her doorstep, or a nosy neighbour wanting to know what is going on.

Even though it takes quite a bit of maneuvering and shifting around, they make it to the second floor to Helena’s place; Dinah has asked her once if she has chosen this floor for a reason or if it has been the only available place, and Helena has told her that it’s too high up for someone to easily break in, but not so high that she can’t escape through the window, should it be necessary one day.

The casual way she has told her this has shown Dinah how crazy prepared Helena is for everything, even unlikely things like someone breaking into her home she has to run from; and so, it comes as no surprise that Helena has a perfectly equipped first aid kit, with everything she’ll need to take care of the injury.

“Okay if I cut the shirt off?” she says once she has carefully placed Dinah on her couch, as said couch has been closer to the front door than her bed, and has cleaned her hands; Dinah shrugs, then nods, the shirt is ruined anyway with all the blood and the hole from the knife, Helena reassuring her that she’ll be careful as she grabs the scissors.

She helps Dinah out of her jacket, then carefully cuts the shirt off her body; on any other day, under different circumstances, she would have found herself aroused at the sight of Dinah in just her bra, but she is all business now, keeping her focus on the wound as she gets ready to clean and disinfect it.

“This is gonna hurt”, she warns again before she gets to work, “but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t hit anything vital, it’s deep, but not that deep. Bleeding has stopped, too, that’s a good sign.”

“Thank fuck”, Dinah sighs, letting her head drop back onto the headrest, “I really don’t want to go to the hospital with this.”

“Won’t be necessary”, Helena says, then places her free hand on Dinah’s chest - and a second later, the singer knows why, as Helena lowers the cloth drenched in disinfectant onto the wound and it  _ burns _ , it hurts worse than getting the cut itself has, and she wants to rear up, to get away from the pain, but Helena holds her down firmly, not allowing her to much too much, making sure the wound won’t get even worse.

“Shhht”, she hears the assassin mumble, of all things, but oddly, it does help, “it’s okay, it’s okay. It’ll be better in a second. I promise.”

The pain does lessen after a few more moments, and Dinah slumps back down, breathing heavily; Helena leaves her hand on her chest for a few more minutes, rubbing small soothing circles now, then finally pulls back and readies needle and thread, Dinah watching her a bit nervously now, it has been quite a well since she’s gotten stitches and she has been in a hospital back then.

She trusts Helena though, she knows Helena is somewhat trained at stitching up wounds, even though she mostly has stitched herself up the past few years and not anyone else; this has made her quite good at it though as Dinah learns a few moments later, she barely feels the needle go in, it hurts much less than disinfecting the wound has, and Helena works quickly, brow furrowed in concentration.

“There”, she says a short while later, putting the needle aside again, “all done. Be right back, I’ll just wash my hands.”

Dinah nods and, while Helena vanishes into the bathroom, raises her head to look at the stitches; they are well done, even and not bigger than they have to be, and while Dinah knows this will scar, she figures it won’t be too bad.

Helena comes back and asks her if she wants a painkiller, slightly surprised when Dinah shakes her head; the singer gives her a slight smile at how Helena raises her eyebrows at her response, then pats the couch next to her, earning a smile from the taller woman when she continues.

“I don’t want a painkiller, but I want cuddles”, she lets Helena know, “think you can provide me with that instead?”

“Sure”, Helena says at once, Dinah’s smile widening in response, “just let me put a bandage on that, then we can cuddle all you want.”

Dinah nods and, with Helena’s help, sits up far enough so the assassin can wrap the bandage around her; and once that has been taken care of, Helena moves to lie on the couch next to her, thankful it’s big enough for two, and carefully takes the singer into her arms, Dinah letting out a content sigh as she gets comfortable in her careful embrace.

“You’re really good at this”, she says once she has settled, and Helena has started rubbing her back, Dinah only feeling better at her gentle touch, “lucky for me, I guess. My own personal doctor.”

Helena snorts at this, making Dinah smile as well; she feels the assassin press a gentle kiss to the top of her head, and she can hear the smile on her face when she replies.

“I’m not sure doctors are supposed to snuggle their patients like that”, she points out, making Dinah shrug, “but I guess I can make an exception in this case.”

“Thank you, Dr Bertinelli”, Dinah solemnly says, earning a low chuckle from her girlfriend; she smiles and cranes her neck so she can steal a quick, but tender kiss, then settles down again, yawning heartily as all the excitement takes a toll on her.

“Sleep”, Helena mumbles, still rubbing her back, her touch tender on her bare back despite the callouses on her hands, “Doctor's orders. I’m right here.”

“I know”, Dinah says through another yawn, eyes already halfway closed; and as Helena keeps rubbing her back, she drifts off into sleep fully, Helena holding her close as she gets the rest she needs to heal. 


	22. (Locked) In The Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has been born after a chat with Lehane on tumblr. XD We're both to blame for this one, hehe.

Renee has been acting weird all day, and Helena finds herself wondering why - she’s not the best at reading social cues, but she’s fairly certain she hasn’t done anything to offend the former cop, and still Renee is behaving weirdly.

She rolls her eyes out of nowhere, and mutters under her breath, Helena is fairly certain she hears her say “useless lesbian” at one point, but she’s not quite sure what that alludes to; she wonders if she should ask Dinah, but then, she figures the singer would know if she had done something to offend Renee and would have told her, as Dinah seems to have made it her mission to make sure Helena doesn’t miss out on any references, always explaining to her what is going on when she’s lost and confused at the conversation.

So, Helena doesn’t ask Dinah, and Dinah doesn’t say anything either; they spend some time training together instead, sparring in the training room of their base, and when they re-emerge from there, Harley and Cassandra are there, too, apparently in conversation with Renee, but falling silent at once when Dinah and Helena come to join them. 

“Hey”, Dinah greets them, and she does look a bit suspicious now, so Helena figures that there is something weird going on, “what are you guys doing here?”

“Just here to help Renee with a project”, Harley says, all innocent, a bit too innocent for Dinah’s taste, and even Helena frowns at that, not sure she ever has seen Harley bat her eyelashes like that before, “and we need something from the little storage room over there from it, Dinah, can you get it for us? It’s… on the top shelf. In the round box.”

“Why don’t you get it”, Dinah wants to know, frowning; Harley just shrugs, then smiles again and claims she doesn’t like enclosed spaces like the closet, and so, Dinah sighs and gives in, and goes to get the box, only to find herself thwarted by her height as the box is too far up for her to reach.

“I can’t get it”, she calls out, disconcerted when she hears Harley giggle, “it’s too far back, I can’t reach it.”

“Huntress, go help her”, Renee commands, and that at least reassures Dinah that nothing fishy is going on, Renee never would take part in it, “you’re the tallest, you can reach it for sure.”

“Okay”, she hears Helena agree, and she steps aside so Helena can step into the closet with her, but she doesn’t leave it, it’s big enough for two, after all, and it’ll just be for a few seconds.

She regrets that when the door is slammed close the moment they are both in there and she hears it being locked.

“Hey!” she calls out, more startled than annoyed right now, while Helena just blinks in confusion, “what the fuck? Guys! Open up!”

“No!” Renee shoots back, “I’ve had it, watching you two fools pine for each other, it’s ridiculous! You don’t get out of there until you’ve figured your shit out!”

“I thought we were gonna help them out of the closet, not lock them in it”, Cassandra comments, and Dinah groans; then she notices how quiet Helena is next to her, and ignores Harley cackling outside, giving the assassin a worried look while Helena studies the door very intently, apparently finding it quite interesting.

“I could break the door down”, she then says, before Dinah can say something, and ask her if she’s okay, “just kick it down, it doesn’t look too sturdy.”

“No”, Dinah says after a moment, deciding that Renee is right and that this has been going on long enough, she would have wanted the moment to be more special than that, but then, she figures she might as well make good use of the situation, “they’re right, you know. This has been going on for long enough. Also, I’m ninety percent sure they’re listening at the door and you might kick them in the face when you break the door.”

“What has been going on long enough”, Helena dares to ask, even though she is fairly certain she knows what Dinah is talking about, she’s been somewhat sure that she’s not been too obvious in her staring, but clearly, Dinah has noticed.

_ And now she’ll tell you off _ , she thinks to herself, worrying now,  _ yell at you for being creepy like that, you should have gotten this under control while you still had the chance. _

“I’ve noticed the way you’re looking at me”, Dinah says, and Helena’s worries grow, “but I’m fairly certain you haven’t noticed the way I’m looking at you.”

“You’re looking at me?” Helena repeats, blinking, practically confirming what Dinah just has said; the singer nods, then smiles, and steps closer to her - not that there’s been much space left between them anyway - and makes her heart speed up by putting both arms around her waist, clasping her hands behind her back.

“I’m looking at you”, she confirms, while Helena can only focus on the feeling of Dinah’s arms around her, “and I’m thinking about things I might do. Like… this.”

And with that, she moves one hand to the back of Helena’s neck, and tucks her down a bit and kisses her, and she can feel Helena gasp against her mouth before the assassin regains her wits enough to kiss her back, Dinah unable to hold back a groan when she feels a firm hand land on her behind and give a good squeeze.

“Figured you’d go for the butt”, she then mumbles, and Helena blushes, “you did compliment me on my  _ tight pants _ .”

She’s amused when Helena blushes again, and reassures her it’s okay; and then, she pulls her in for another kiss, one which soon grows more heated and passionate.

She’s really glad the others have locked them up in the closet now.


	23. Pants and Guns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of the slide kill, and Dinah's reaction to it, and this is what happened. XD Thanks to Lehane for being my sounding board for this, hahaha. :D

Even when Renee reveals Helena Bertinelli’s name - and upsets the woman quite a bit too in the process, if her reaction is anything to go by - Dinah has only a vague idea who she is; she has heard of the Bertinelli massacre, she figures everyone in Gotham has, even the little old lady living in her building who is always so sweet and nice when they run into each other in the hallway, but she has been a child when that has happened, so she only remembers a few very vague details.

She still finds herself attracted to the woman though, even makes a point of seeking her out when they get ready to leave the amusement park, complimenting her on her look and asking about her bow and arrow; this gets her yelled at, because it’s a crossbow, apparently, but she doesn’t let that intimidate her, she figures it’s normal for a person to have some issues when they’d seen get their whole family get gunned down.

Unfortunately, the men Sionis has called to his aid interrupt them before she can find another way to make her interest clear; Harley points out a way out to them, a slide which leads to the ground floor of the building, and while Dinah isn’t sure this is a good idea, it’s the only way out, so once Harley, Cassandra and Renee have vanished through the hole in the floor, she follows, hearing Helena quite close behind her.

She can hear someone else too, one of the guys Sionis has hired, and that is bad; once she makes it to the end of the slide, she immediately readies her gun and the baseball bat, just to be on the safe side, ready to put a bullet in the guy’s head the moment he’ll emerge.

_ Make sure you don’t hit Helena though, _ she tells herself as she tensely listens, not quite sure what to think when she hears Helena grunt from within the slide, wondering if she is actually fighting the guy in there,  _ you want to hit  _ on  _ her, not hit her with a bullet. _

As it turns out, she doesn’t need to shoot anyone, because when the guy comes out of the slide, Helena is actually sitting on him, and just ramming a knife into him, and judging from the blood, it’s not the first time she stabs him; he goes limp when she yanks the knife back out, and Helena apparently dismisses him right away, getting off of him and belatedly taking note of how they all are staring at her.

“...what”, she demands somewhat roughly as she moves some hair out of her face; Harley grins and tells her how cool she is, and she notices how Dinah looks at her, smiling and nodding, looking impressed.

And not just impressed, Helena realizes as the woman gives her a once-over so obvious not even Helena can miss it, the assassin not quite sure what to think of this, but it seems to be something positive, as Dinah is still smiling at her.

Then, another bunch of Sionis’ guys shows up, and there’s no more time for her to think about how Dinah has looked at her; there’s a lot of fighting, and looking out for the kid, and then Dinah does some freaky shit with her voice which makes her collapse, but Helena has no real time to think about this, either, as she has to get to her bike and help out Harley before the kid can get killed and all their efforts have been for nothing.

Only a while later, she gets to wind down, as they all go to get drinks and tacos to celebrate their victory; and she notices how Dinah makes sure to sit opposite of her, actually waiting to see where she will sit before she chooses her own seat, and once again she looks at her that weird way, it makes her feel quite warm and scrutinized, but Dinah is smiling again, so it must be a good sort of look.

“So tell me”, Dinah says, leaning forward a bit, and Helena has to work very hard to not stare at her chest - she has caught herself looking at her backside several times during the fight, it’s been really impressive how high Dinah has managed to kick in those tight pants, “how’d you even get onto that guy like that in the slide?”

“Oh, um”, Helena lets out, not having expected that, “I… jumped up and held on to the wall?”

“She says, as if everyone could do that”, Dinah comments, taking a sip of her drink while Helena shrugs, not sure what the correct response to this is, “seriously? That’s badass. And impressive. But then, you got amazing guns, so I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“It’s a crossbow, not a gun”, Helena tells her, only for Dinah to snicker - before she reaches over the table, grasps her biceps and gives a firm squeeze, and Helena feels a strange flash of heat at the touch, staring at Dinah when she pulls back, giving her another smirk at her reaction.

“I was talking about those”, she says, Helena blinking again, “they’re impressive. And I love that fucking name, by the way, Huntress? That’s badass.”

“Really”, Helena lets out, surprised, but flattered, too, “thanks. I, um, I really like how you were able to kick so high in those tight pants.”

Dinah raises an eyebrow at that, but she smirks again, so while Helena feels awkward again, she figures she hasn’t said the wrong thing; she hopes Dinah doesn’t realize that she has been looking, but that hope is quickly dashed, the singer eying her again as she leans back in her seat.

“Looked at my… pants, did you”, she says, and Helena blushes at once, feeling caught, “well. Good to know I wasn’t just staring at you.”

Helena can only nod, once again not sure what the correct response to this might be; Dinah gives her another smile, one which seems oddly… inviting, an impression which is confirmed a second later. 

“Why don’t you come home with me”, Dinah suggests, with another look of appreciation, “then you can tell me all about that slide kill. And take another good look at my… pants.”

Helena swallows, and nods again, she’s not quite sure what she is agreeing to… but she gets the feeling she’ll like it quite a bit. 


	24. Pants and Guns: Fast Learner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena and Dinah spend some quality time together. Smutty sequel to the previous chapter ;)

Dinah doesn’t waste any time once she has taken Helena to her home, she’s always been a firm believer in making her interest clear, and that is what she intends to do this time, as well.

Only when Helena looks at her in confusion at the way she straddles her on the couch, she realizes Helena might not really have an idea where this is going.

“Wait”, Dinah says, suddenly realizing it might have unexpected results if she acts too rashly, “you do realize I am about to make out with you, yes?”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, making it clear she hasn’t realized this, “you… are? You want to kiss me?”

“Yes”, Dinah confirms, now feeling awkward as she is practically sitting on the assassin, who is looking at her still quite confused, “but only if you want me to kiss you.”

“Why”, Helena wants to know, frowning now, and this makes it Dinah’s turn to feel confused, “why do you want to kiss me?”

“Because I’m attracted to you”, Dinah decides to spell it out, and Helena blinks again, apparently finding that hard to believe, “really? Helena, you’re hot as fuck. Have you looked at yourself?”

“Oh”, Helena makes again, “okay? Thank you? I think you’re very attractive, as well.”

“So you want me to kiss you”, Dinah asks, just to be on the safe side; Helena nods at once, now thankfully not looking frowny or confused anymore, and Dinah gives a slightly relieved smile before she leans in and does kiss her.

It takes Helena a moment to figure out what to do with her hands, Dinah’s lips on hers are very distracting and not quite helpful, but she figures that putting them on Dinah’s hips is a good start, and she’s glad she’s figured this out - because a moment later, Dinah deepens the kiss, and Helena practically stops thinking at the feeling of the singer’s tongue sliding into her mouth.

It makes her feel lightheaded, but in a good way, and her breath quickens, but in a good way, too; and a moment later, Dinah moves her hand to grab one of hers, and pulls until Helena’s hand is on her butt, and that only makes the lightheaded feeling increase.

She squeezes without thinking, only to regret it a second later as Dinah moans into her mouth, and at once, Helena pulls back, looking at her with worry while Dinah is now the one to blink in confusion.

“No, no”, she catches on quickly though, “that was a good noise. That felt good.”

“Oh”, Helena manages, she’s not quite used to not causing pain with her hands, but Dinah does look as if she enjoys the feeling of her hand there, so she gives another experimental squeeze; Dinah smiles, and nods in encouragement, then kisses her again, Helena keeping her hands where they are, and the longer the kiss goes on, the warmer she feels, until she starts to worry she might spontaneously burst into flames.

“Okay”, Dinah mumbles as she pulls back again, and Helena is amazed to see she is flushed and breathing a bit heavier, too, “honestly, I was planning to drag you to the bedroom, but… we don’t have to do that tonight. We can take it slow. If you want.”

It amazes Helena that they are a we now, and it makes her happy; and while she’s nervous and worried she might mess this up somehow, she shakes her head, her stomach feels tight and is filled with fire, and she’s fairly certain she really will combust if she doesn’t get some sort of release. 

“No”, she manages, and the roughness of her voice nearly makes Dinah groan again, “I want this. Tonight. With you.”

“Are you sure”, Dinah still doesn’t want to be too rash; in response, Helena gives another nod - before she moves her hands so she has a good hold on Dinah, and stands up, picking her up with ease, the singer letting out a noise of surprise as she wraps her arms around her.

“Shit, you’re strong”, she comments, she’s known Helena is in good shape, but still hasn’t expected this; Helena just shrugs, then turns, only to realize she doesn’t know where Dinah’s bedroom is, the singer smiling as she realizes her trouble and nodding at one of the doors behind her.

“Over there”, she points out, and Helena easily carries her over there, making Dinah wonder if she’s aware how much this is turning her on; she figures Helena will realize once her pants come off, and she certainly hopes it won’t be long until that will happen.

The door’s only ajar, not closed, so Helena pushes it open with one foot, then carries Dinah to the bed and lowers her onto it; not willing to let the close contact end, Dinah pulls her on top of her at once, and they go back to kissing, and when Helena hesitatingly moves one hand to her side, she encourages her immediately, once again grasping her hand, guiding it beneath her shirt and to her chest this time.

The assassin’s touch is still hesitant at first, as if she’s too mindful of her strength and worries she might hurt the singer if she’s a bit more daring; when her thumb brushes the nipple though and Dinah moans into her mouth again, she gets more daring, and increases the pressure, Dinah responding by wrapping both legs around her to keep her close as she pulls back from the kiss.

“Get this off me”, she practically orders, tugging at her own shirt; Helena is quick to comply, she’ quite thankful for instructions, even though her brain blanks again when this gives her a rather good look at Dinah’s breasts.

When the singer pulls off her bra and throws it aside, exposing it all to Helena’s eyes, she can’t hold back a groan, the noise making Dinah smile again, it has been quite a while since someone has reacted so strongly to simply seeing her half naked, and she quite enjoys it. 

“You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen”, Helena tells her, so solemn and serious that Dinah just has to believe her; this unexpectedly touches her deeply, and makes her falter for a bit, but she recovers quickly, smiling as she pulls Helena in for yet another kiss. 

Helena, as it turns out, doesn’t need any instructions to remove her pants, as she does so on her own after having paid quite thorough attention to her breasts for quite a while; her underwear follows, and Dinah decides to make things a bit more balanced by pulling the assassin’s shirt off of her, giving her another admiring look as this gives her a rather good look at her toned stomach.

“Touch me”, she breathes into the taller woman’s ear as she’s naked beneath her, then bites down on her throat, just hard enough to make her groan again; still Helena’s touch is hesitating again, at first, until she feels the slick wetness and looks so surprised it would have been comical, had the circumstances been different.

“Yeah, babe, you did that to me”, Dinah tells her immediately, and the pet name makes Helena feel the fire in her belly again, “and now,  _ please _ , for the love of God, finish what you’ve started.”

Helena’s not quite sure she actually knows how to do that, but she figures there’s only one way to figure it out, and so she moves her fingers, just a little bit; it gets her an immediate reaction though, as Dinah moans and her hips twitch, and that encourages her to be more daring, and she increases both her movements and the pressure.

Her thumb seems to find a good spot, as Dinah moans louder, and clings to her, and her nails dig into Helena’s back, it hurts a bit but it only spurs her on further; she keeps going, pays close attention to how Dinah reacts to her touch, and she must be doing it right, cause Dinah moans again, and twitches, throwing her head back in her neck as she gasps out “oh God fuck  _ Helena _ ”, and the way she says her name makes her feel tingly all over.

Not wanting to overdo it after this, Helena slows down, then pulls her hand back; Dinah groans at the loss of contact, but she looks pleased, she’s smiling, and Helena smiles too, somewhat proud, a feeling which turns out to be justified once Dinah finds herself to properly talk again.

“Okay”, she says, taking in a deep breath, her heart still racing in her chest, “I have to say, you are a very fast learner.”

Helena just smirks again, and shrugs, and then she moves to kiss her again - she’s a fast learner indeed, and she’s eager to learn some more, if only she can make Dinah gasp her name like that again. 


	25. Noise Complaint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: Helena/dinah prompt! They are both getting ready for their bachelorette party, helena is freaking bc harley is in charge of hers. Surprise is dinah is her stripper. I can see harley stealing a cop uniform for her but you can do w/e lol  
> A bit spicy, but shouldn't be NSFW XD

“Why did I agree to this?” Helena asks no one in particular as she paces up and down in the living room, looking at the clock on the wall again, “what was I thinking?”

“I’m not sure you actually did agree, babe”, Dinah points out, even though that probably isn’t very helpful right in this moment, “far as I remember, we told the news, Renee immediately said she’ll take care of my bachelorette party then and Harley shouted that she would be in charge of yours.”

“Why didn’t I tell her no?” Helena asks her fiancée, making a face as she drops onto the couch next to her, Dinah giving her a sympathetic look, “this is gonna go so wrong. Dinah, I promise, if she tries to make me look at other naked women, I’ll cover my eyes.”

“Okay”, Dinah says with a small laugh, reassuringly patting Helena’s thigh, “honestly, I’ll be happy as long as you guys don’t get arrested. And as long as you don’t come home wasted and throw up in our bed.”

“No, of course not”, Helena sounds so mortified it almost makes Dinah laugh again, “I would never. I just hope she won’t have any too embarrassing ideas.”

“You’ll be fine, I’m sure”, Dinah tells her, smiling afterwards, “but just in case she does have a stripper show up or something, look don’t touch. Alright?”

“I’m not even gonna look”, Helena mumbles, blushing at the mere thought; Dinah smirks and leans in for a brief kiss, then there’s a knock at the door and Renee calls out through it that it’s time to get her ass in gear, the singer still smiling as she comes to her feet.

“Have fun”, she says, Helena sighing before she tells her the same, “I’ll see you later.”

“Later”, Helena says, still looking somewhat nervous; she tells herself it will be okay though, certainly Harley knows there are limits even when it’s a bachelorette party for an assassin, but still she feels nervous as she waits for Harley to arrive.

At least, Harley shows up on time, and doesn’t make her wait; she’s carrying a bag filled with various drinks, from beer to harder stuff like tequila, but at least, Helena can’t see any embarrassing costumes or other weird stuff, she’s made the mistake to google bachelorette parties and some of the things described in the results have made her feel quite antsy.

“We’ll get started here”, Harley tells her as she moves to the fridge, putting bottles inside, “get a bit of a buzz on, and once we’re pleasantly tipsy, we’ll hit the town. Sound good?”

“Sure”, Helena replies with a small shrug, at least it doesn’t seem as if Harley has any weird plans, and she’s fine with having a few drinks; Harley grins at her and hands her a bottle of beer, it’s not as cold as she would have liked, but at least not completely warm, and so, she opens the bottle and clinks it against Harley’s, still nervous when she takes a sip.

“Relax, Huntress”, Harley quickly picks up on that, grinning at her, “this is your bachelorette party, not a fight you’re going to. Wait, in fact, you’re more relaxed when you go to kick ass.”

“Fighting is something I’m good at”, Helena points out, shrugging, “but I’ve never had a bachelorette party before.”

“And this better be your first and last one”, Harley solemnly says, “or Renee will have your hide if you break Dinah’s heart.”

“I would never!” Helena protests again, shaking her head for emphasis this time, “I love her!”

“Good”, Harley says with a smirk, “she give you any rules for tonight? Anything I should know about?”

“If there’s strippers, I’m allowed to look, but not to touch”, Helena recites obediently, “not that I would want to. And I can’t get so drunk that I’ll puke in our bed. Or anywhere else in here, I imagine.”

“That can be done”, Harley reassures her, and she seems quite amused at the look-don’t-touch rule, even though Helena isn’t quite sure why, “we’ll have a good time, I promise. Now! Let’s do a shot, the night is still young! What’s your poison, vodka, tequila, peach schnapps?”

“Vodka, I guess”, Helena says after a moment, she’s never been fond of tequila and peach schnapps is too sweet for her taste; Harley grins toothily and gives her a thumbs up, then goes to pour the shots, and Helena slumps back into the couch as she waits for her to return, hoping this won’t turn into some huge sort of mess once they’ll leave the apartment.

* * *

An hour later, Helena is pleasantly buzzed, and actually having a good time; she’s still at the apartment with Harley, Harley entertaining her with stories of fights she’s been part of, the way she tells them, excitedly gesturing and at one point even jumping on the table making Helena laugh so hard she’s close to tears, even though the assassin isn’t quite sure if that’s due to the funny stories or due to the alcohol or possibly a mix of both.

“...and then I kicked him right in the balls and he actually started to cry”, Harley proudly tells her, and Helena snorts, “with tears and everything. He was blubbering and snotty, it was gross, I almost felt--”

She doesn’t find out what Harley almost felt, as the doorbell rings; Harley falls silent, but grins, and this prompts Helena to suspect that she knows what is about to happen; she looks at her warily, gets up from the couch and makes her way to the door though, hoping it won’t be anything embarrassing as she pulls it open.

A moment later, she freezes, because it’s Dinah in front of her door, wearing a police uniform, and somehow managing to look surprisingly stern, even though her eyes are twinkling. 

“Are you Miss Helena Bertinelli?” she asks, completely serious, and Helena nods, dumbfounded, wondering if maybe, this is some freaky doppelganger thing, but then she glances at Dinah’s hand and sees the engagement ring there, so this doppelganger either got the exact same ring from her fiancée or it really is Dinah, “we got a noise complaint for this place. Mind if I come in?”

“Um”, Helena lets out, but almost automatically steps aside, this  _ is  _ Dinah’s home too after all, “sure…”

“Sit on the chair please”, Dinah instructs, and for a moment, Helena wonders which chair, then turns to see one of their kitchen table chairs in the middle of the living room now, apparently Harley has moved it there while her back has been turned, and she starts to have a vague idea where this is going, she has never had a bachelorette party, but she has seen a fair share of American sitcoms lately, and she suddenly feels warm, cheeks flushed not just from the alcohol when she sits down.

She takes note of Harley stepping up to her from behind, and a moment later, her hands are grasped and pulled behind the backrest; she’s glad that she has mellowed quite a bit when it comes to being touched unexpectedly, a year ago, Harley would have gotten punched, even though it does get hard to not jump up when she feels cold steel click around her wrists.

“Harley”, she says, voice carefully controlled, while Dinah smirks, “did you just handcuff me to the chair.”

“She did”, Dinah is the one to confirm, moving to the stereo in the corner of the room, Helena’s eyes following her every move, “look, don’t touch, remember?”

“Oh shit”, Helena manages as she realizes where this is going; Dinah gives her another smirk, then pushes the Play button, and apparently, she’s prepared this before heading out for the night, because what Helena can only describe as sexy music fills the room, Harley cackling as she practically skips to the door.

“Left the key on the table”, she calls out to the two, “have fun! Meet Montoya and me at the bar when you’re done!”

“Will do”, Dinah calls back, and the moment Harley is gone, she turns to face Helena again, smirking as she moves to stand close to her, so close she’s  _ almost _ touching her, Helena nervously flexing her fingers as she already knows this won’t be easy to watch without the ability to touch the singer.

She’s always loved to watch Dinah dance, already before they’d started dating; and this time, Dinah is dancing solely  _ for her _ , there’s no one else around, and she knows what Helena likes, holding her gaze as her hips sway and her hands move to the buttons of her shirt.

She starts opening them slowly, one by one, Helena’s eyes trailing the movement of her fingers; each button opened exposes more skin, and her mouth goes dry when the shirt falls open fully, as Dinah is wearing one of the bras she likes the most beneath it, the singer smiling at her as she immediately notices her reaction.

“Like what you see?” she still asks, and Helena can only nod; still smiling, Dinah turns so that her back is to the assassin now, and lets the shirt slide down her arms, grinning to herself when she actually hears Helena groan in response.

“You know”, she says conversationally as she unbuttons the pants and lets them slide down, Helena groaning again in response, “I know why I had Harley cuff you to this chair. You wouldn’t have been able to keep your hands to yourself.”

She turns and steps out of the pants, and Helena looks as if she would have pounced her, had she been able to; smiling, Dinah steps even closer, so that she’s standing above her, and the way Helena looks up at her is almost worshipful, it sends a spike of heat right to her core, this isn’t the first time Helena is looking at her like this, but it will never fail to turn her on. 

She reaches behind herself with one hand and unhooks her bra, and Helena looks like she’s about to explode when it falls down to her lap; she starts to learn forward almost automatically, but Dinah stops her at once, placing one hand on her chest and shaking her head, raising an eyebrow as she gives her another stern look.

“Not unless I allow it”, she then says, and Helena groans yet again, apparently, she has lost her ability to speak; Dinah lets her stew for another minute, then smiles again, pulling her hand back as she vaguely gestures at her thong, eyes twinkling when she speaks up again.

“Why don’t you get this off of me”, she suggests, and to her amusement, Helena actually looks clueless, glancing from the garment up at her, clearly not realizing what the singer is going for. 

“I can’t”, she says, “I’m handcuffed.”

“You’re not gagged, are you”, Dinah lightly replies, and Helena goes wide-eyed, then swallows heavily; she licks her lips nervously as she nods, then leans forward as far as the handcuffs allow, Dinah having to struggle to keep a straight face when Helena uses her teeth to pull the thong down as far as she can.

“Yeah, just like that”, she smiles as she takes it off the rest of the way, “now. Why don’t we see if we can get a  _ real _ noise complaint?”

“Oh fuck yes”, Helena still has time to say, then Dinah lowers herself onto her lap and kisses her deeply, and while she still can’t touch her, she leans into her kiss and touch, moaning into her mouth when Dinah pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and bites down slightly. 

As it turns out, Renee and Harley have to wait quite a while for them to join them at the bar. 


	26. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is based on what Lehane told me about an interview with Jurnee, where she said she can't stand movies with paranormal stuff in them XD Harley decides Helena needs to be educated on horror movies. Dinah does not appreciate the idea.

It all starts harmlessly enough, with a comment Harley makes when she’s out with them one evening, and they end up fighting guys wearing hockey masks.

“What is it with you guys?” she asks as she takes one of them down and the mask goes flying, revealing an average, slack face as the guy is out cold, “you all wanna be Jason Vorhees or something?”

Dinah doesn’t think much of it at that moment, they all are busy fighting, taking hockey mask dudes down left and right; and she only remembers that comment later on, when they are having victory drinks and Helena asks who Jason Vorhees is.

“Oh my God you don’t know?!” Harley gasps dramatically, Dinah rolling her eyes as that seems like a bit of an overreaction, “he’s from Friday the 13th! The bad guy!”

Helena looks at her blankly, and Harley gasps again - before she looks at Dinah sternly, and shakes her head, the singer blinking as she has no idea where that is coming from now.

“Dinah Lance”, Harley says, shaking her head again, “you have been dating her for how long now? And have not done anything about her education?”

“I don’t think cheesy slasher movies count as  _ education _ ”, Dinah points out, earning yet another gasp from Harley, “and honestly, most of them are dumb, anyway.”

“You take that back”, Harley demands indignantly, “Helena must see the classics at least! Okay, movie night, your place, tomorrow night, you provide snacks and drinks and I’ll bring the movies.”

Dinah sighs, she knows there is no use in declining when Harley gets like this; and so, she just nods, while Helena shrugs, apparently not caring much either way, Harley clapping her hands in excitement at their kinda-sorta agreement, clearly looking forward to the movies she has planned for the following night.

* * *

Twenty minutes into the first movie, Dinah remembers why she never has liked that kind of movie.

She fights bad guys for a living now, she has worked for a bad guy and his psycho boyfriend, and she should not be fazed by some cheesy horror movie; and still she finds herself unreasonably frightened as the masked villain stalks his victims on screen, and flinches when his weapon carves up a teenage girl, blood going everywhere. 

“This is bullshit”, Helena dryly says next to her, unimpressed as she watches, taking a sip of her beer, “how high is this woman’s blood pressure and how much blood does she have, a hundred litres? Look at this, this is ridiculous. Such a cut would never cause such a far spurt of blood or so much of it.”

“This is what you pay attention to?” Dinah demands to know, flinching again as another screaming teenager falls victim to the killer; Helena gives her an odd look and shrugs, while Harley makes shushing gestures at both of them, apparently very into the movie and not liking them talking, Dinah wondering if she should find Harley’s investment into this disconcerting.

“He could never make a cut so precise with this sort of weapon”, Helena keeps commenting on the inaccuracies of the movie, raising an eyebrow at Dinah as she keeps moving closer and closer to her as the movie progresses, until she’s practically in her lap, and as the movie reaches its very bloody climax, she hides her face against Helena’s shoulder, the assassin blinking in confusion.

“Dinah”, she then says, the singer peeking up at her in response, “is this… frightening you?”

“Oh my God”, Harley says before Dinah can actually answer, “it totally is! Dinah! You’re a total badass! How?”

“I just don’t like horror movies, okay”, Dinah says defensively, “I never have! I saw that creepy clown movie when I was like nine, and ever since then I can’t watch those movies without getting scared, it’s like ingrained in my brain or something.”

“Oooh, Stephen King’s IT, a classic”, Harley wisely nods, and Dinah groans, somewhat relieved at what Harley says next, “I would have brought it, but I’m so over into clowns. But! I got us Nightmare on Elm Street instead. The original, not the crappy remake.”

“Is it dumb like the one we just saw?” Helena wants to know, frowning, “cause then I don’t want to see it, what a waste of time.”

“Whaaat”, Harley lets out, “Helena! I’m shocked, how did you not like this? It’s amazing!”

“No, it’s not”, Helena protests, and Dinah is relieved as she hopes this means she won’t have to watch more of those movies, “the characters all acted stupidly, no surprise they got killed off one by one, they didn’t stop to think for ten seconds! And the villain, he just hacked at them, no skill, no nothing. The only good thing about that movie is that Dinah cuddled up to me.”

“I’ll cuddle you anytime without watching any of those movies”, Dinah immediately says while Harley pouts, but apparently, the former psychiatrist is not willing to give up so fast.

“Come on guys”, she says, looking at them pleadingly, “just one more, please, it’s a classic, you’ll love it.”

“Doubt it”, Dinah grumbles, but gives in after all when Harley pouts again and bats her eyelashes; Helena just shrugs, apparently not caring much, and Harley lets out a “yay!” as she hops up to put the DVD in.

The movie starts, and it doesn’t take long until Dinah is holding on to Helena again, almost sitting on her as she clings to her; and while Helena doesn’t care much about the movie itself, she does have to admit that this is nice, having Dinah so close to her and hold on to her like this.

The characters in the movie might be stupid, she thinks as she puts one arm around the singer and valiantly reassures her she’ll protect her, but she can sit through the stupidity of teenagers if it means that Dinah gets close to her like that. 


	27. Culinary Carnage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley brings pizza. Helena is not impressed.  
> Shared credit for this one with Lehane as Harley's lines are all hers XD

“What the Hell is this”, Helena says, and she sounds so offended that Dinah can’t hold back a snort, the assassin briefly scowling at her before her ire returns to what has caused it in the first place.

“It’s pizza”, Harley says, rolling her eyes, “you of all people should know, aren’t you fucking Italian?”

“I’m fucking  _ an  _ Italian”, Dinah thoughtfully comments, and while Helena usually blushes at hearing such things from her, she keeps scowling this time while Harley grins and fistbumps the singer. 

“This is not pizza”, Helena scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest, “this is fucking blasphemy.”

Harley gasps dramatically, then actually hugs the pizza box close and glares at Helena; Dinah snickers to herself as Harley reassures the pizza that this is not true and that it’s a wonderful pizza, that Helena is just mean, the assassin apparently not seeing the humour in the situation as she  _ still _ cowls. 

“There’s pineapple”, she then says, glaring at the pizza again as if that might magically make the offending fruit disappear, “why is there  _ pineapple _ on the pizza?”

“Cause it’s pizza Hawaii, duh”, Harley replies, smirking, quite amused at the taller woman’s obvious dismay about this, “don’t knock it before you’ve tried it, it’s delicious.”

“I’d rather bite off my tongue than try this abomination”, Helena says, and now Dinah lets out a dramatic gasp, then shakes her head, giving Helena as a strict look as she pokes her in the chest with one finger.

“Don’t you dare do that”, she says, and this time, Helena does blush at what she says next, “I’m very fond of your tongue and the things it can do. Come on, I’m sure we can find you something else you can eat.”

Helena ends up with leftover chinese from the previous day, but she still claims it’s better than that abomination Harley dares to call a pizza; and once the others have eaten said pizza and Dinah leans in for a kiss, Helena actually asks her to have some chewing gum first, the singer gasping in offense before she lightly smacks her arm.

“Rude”, she then says, but Helena is unperturbed, just shrugging as she finishes her fried noodles, for once not impressed when Dinah pouts at her.

“You’ll taste like pineapple pizza”, she then points out, ignoring it when Harley corrects her and tells her it is called pizza Hawaii, “so no. Just no.”

“Her Italian doesn’t often break through, but when it does, it is strong”, Harley comments, “want some gum, Dinah?”

Dinah sighs, and takes the gum and gets her kiss, despite her apparent annoyance amused by how strong Helena has reacted to this, and perfectly unaware what else the pizza will lead to.

* * *

The next night is date night for Helena and Dinah, the couple making a point of having at least one night per week where it’s just the two of them; usually, they meet at Dinah’s place or go out to dinner, but this night, Helena has asked Dinah to come to her place, and the singer finds herself wondering why as she’s on the way there.

She has her own key at this point, and so she just lets herself in; and the moment she steps inside, the smell fills her nostrils, and she stops and sniffs audibly, whatever it is, it smells delicious, it makes her mouth water.

“You’re right on time”, Helena calls out to her from the kitchen, and Dinah feels curious now as she makes her way there, just in time to see Helena pull the baking sheet from the oven - and Dinah realizes that the pizza on said baking sheet is what has caused the smell, impressed as she has had no idea that Helena actually is decent enough at cooking to produce a pizza which looks and smells so good.

“It’s not a hundred percent authentic”, the assassin says apologetically, “cause I don’t have the right sort of oven, but it is definitely closer to proper pizza than that pineapple mess Harley has brought the other day.”

“You actually went and made pizza from scratch just cause Harley brought pineapple pizza?” Dinah wants to know, still impressed; Helena pauses, then shrugs and blushes a bit, suddenly very focused on slicing the pizza, even though Dinah knows she probably could have done this blindfolded and with one hand tied behind her back.

“Well, you know”, she says, stalling a bit, and Dinah waits for her to go on, knowing her well enough at this point to not say anything, “pizza is like one of the staple foods for Italian people. That, and pasta. So I wanted to… share that with you. Proper pizza and not that pineapple mess.”

“Aw, that’s sweet”, Dinah says at once, smiling as she steps closer to the taller woman and wraps both arms around her, “you’re sweet. And I really appreciate this.”

“Taste it first before you praise me”, Helena warns, “I haven’t actually made this in quite some time. Also, not the right kind of oven.”

“Well, if it tastes half as good as it smells, it’ll be worlds better than the pizza Harley brought”, Dinah tells her, and immediately, Helena smiles happily, telling her this is exactly what she wanted to hear; Dinah lets out a short laugh, and pulls her in for a kiss, and afterwards, they sit down to eat.

The pizza is delicious, as Dinah has predicted it would be, and she thoroughly rewards Helena for her culinary skill in the bedroom later on. 


	28. Tequila, Tequila

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: "i want a very passionate and flerting drunk helena even though she dates dinah for a long time now"  
> It's a bit smut-ish? XD But not very detailed sooo...

Already before they have started dating, Dinah has noticed that Helena always is careful to pace herself when they’ve gone out to a bar to celebrate another victory.

She suspects it has something to do with the assassin’s rage issues, Helena still denies having them, but they all know that’s a total lie; and alcohol might make it more difficult for her to keep them under control, so she always makes sure to never have too much.

Quite some time has gone by since Dinah first has made this observation though, and Helena has gotten better about her rage, thanks to the therapist she’s started going to and thanks to the patience of her friends and girlfriend; and as she learns how to handle her emotions and her rage, she starts trying out new things, Dinah happy to do so with her, taking her to places she’s never had a chance to visit and being the one to share several first times with her, from first kiss to something much more intimate.

And tonight, after taking down another gang of drug dealers, Helena apparently has decided it is time for her to try shots, as she nods at once when Renee asks who wants tequila, up until now always having declined.

“Look at you”, the former cop says, raising her brows in surprise, “going for the heavy stuff. You sure about this?”

“Yeah”, Helena says, a year ago, that question would have annoyed her, but by now, she knows Renee means well; Dinah looks a bit surprised too, but doesn’t comment on it, only smirking a bit as she moves one hand to run it down the taller woman’s back, her smile widening at the goosebumps she can see form on Helena’s arms in response, her strong reaction to any gentle touch despite the time they have been together not having lessened.

“Be careful though”, Dinah advises, the assassin giving her a questioning look, “don’t overdo it, if you throw up in the bed, I’ll be pissed.”

“I won’t throw up”, Helena says, her tone so incredulous it makes Dinah laugh, “neither in the bed, nor anywhere else. I know my limits.”

“Good”, Dinah says, then leans in for a short, but gentle kiss - they do hardly more than hold hands and share quick pecks on the lips when out and about in public, Helena is quite affectionate and tender when it’s just the two of them, but this is different when there’s other people around, the taller woman much more reserved and holding back then. 

Renee comes back quickly with the shots, and with salt and slices of lemon; Helena has seen Dinah and Renee do this often enough that she doesn’t need an explanation, quite curious to see what all the fuss is about when she gets ready to have the shot.

She’s really quite glad to have the lemon, because as it turns out, it tastes  _ awful _ , it makes her eyes water and it makes her cough, Dinah unable to hold back a bit of laughter as she helpfully pats her on the back.

“You okay there, killer?” she wants to know as Helena wheezes; despite the way her eyes are still watering, Helena makes herself nod, then gulps down some of her beer in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth, shaking her head afterwards. 

“Shit”, she then says, making Dinah laugh again and Renee too this time, “why do you guys drink that? That tastes awful.”

“It might be a bit of an acquired taste”, Renee admits, “but hey, you’re keeping it down, good job Crossbow. You think you can handle another one?”

Helena takes a moment to consider this, making sure her belly isn’t queasy or any other weird thing is happening within her body; then, she nods, and Renee grins while Dinah looks somewhat amused as well, and Renee goes to get them more shots, Helena feeling oddly proud of herself at how well she is handling this.

* * *

Quite a while later, Helena is still convinced she is handling the stronger alcohol well, but Dinah isn’t so sure anymore - because there have been a few more shots, and now, Helena is pressed all up against her in their booth, and is actually nuzzling her throat, something she never has done in public before.

(Not that Dinah minds much, because she has a pleasant buzz going on as well, and it feels  _ really _ nice.)

“Don’t give me a hickey”, she still says, holding back a groan as she is very aware of Helena’s lips on her skin and the assassin’s hand on her thigh, “I got a gig tomorrow, remember?”   


“You can cover it up”, Helena tells her, prompting her to raise an eyebrow, “cause you’re really good at that. You’re good at so many things, you’re amazing and I’m super lucky cause you’re my amazing girlfriend who is good at many things.”

“And you’re a bit drunk”, Dinah points out, more feeling Helena shrug in response than actually seeing it, with how close the assassin still is to her, “I never would have guessed you’re a cuddly drunk.”

Helena’s hand slides to the inside of her thigh in response, and Dinah pulls in a sharp breath; thankfully, the table is hiding this from view, but she’s still suddenly very eager to get home, if only to make good use of Helena’s very clear need for physical closeness.

“Or perhaps, you’re a horny drunk”, she corrects herself, Helena shrugging again in response, “come on, why don’t we get out of here and go home?”

Helena nods this time, and pulls back her hand and from her neck; Dinah takes a moment to wave goodbye to Renee, who’s standing at the bar and rolling her eyes, clearly able to tell why the two of them are making such a hasty exit.

Thankfully, the bar isn’t far from Helena’s home, and they walk there, Helena having her arm around Dinah’s shoulders, and talking in a constant stream about how amazing Dinah is and how happy and lucky she is to have her in her life; and while this amuses Dinah, it also touches her, she knows Helena has a hard time talking about such things, and it’s sweet to hear them now, with the alcohol having loosened the assassin’s tongue.

“You’re also a cute drunk”, she takes the chance given when Helena has to pause for a breath, “but you better drink some water before you go to sleep, or you’ll have an epic hangover tomorrow.”

Helena shrugs again, and judging from how she’s looking at Dinah, they won’t go to sleep anytime soon even once they’ll have arrived at her home; and as it turns out, that was right, they do go to bed, but are far from falling asleep at once.

As it turns out, Helena is not only a horny drunk, a very passionate one, too; she nearly rips Dinah’s shirt in her haste to get it off of the singer, but Dinah can’t find it within herself to scold her, not with how Helena’s hands and mouth on her skin make her feel.

Even with her very not sober state, Helena has no problems when it comes to undressing Dinah, and it doesn’t take long until the singer is naked beneath her; and clearly, the alcohol has no negative impact on her stamina and skill either, as she is quite dedicated to making Dinah feel all sorts of amazing things, ther singer soon moaning at her kiss and touch.

Her own not quite sober state helps, too, and it doesn’t take long until her nails dig into Helena’s back as she groans out her name; Helena is grinning once Dinah has recovered enough to properly look at her, the singer smirking as well, shaking her head before she pulls her down for a tender kiss.

“Alright”, she then mumbles, Helena snickering and shrugging at her next words, “tequila turns you into a horny drunk. That is good to know.”   


“Don’t tell anyone”, Helena says, not quite serious, making Dinah laugh as well while she shakes her head; and then, she kisses the assassin again, and moves them both so that she’s hovering above her, quite determined now to repay the favour before they both will get some much needed sleep. 


	29. Praise You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: i was wondering how would be helena telling dinah to talk dirty to her... or that she liked being praised during sex... shy or direct? 
> 
> Not very detailed smut I think, but probably still NSFW XD

“Come on”, Dinah says, incredulous, and Helena looks like she wants to jump up and bolt from the room, “you can’t be serious. There has to be  _ something _ .”

Helena just shrugs, cheeks flaming, and for a moment, Dinah seriously considers getting some tequila into her, not only because it will turn her into a cuddly, horny drunk, but also because it might allow her to loosen up a bit, and say what she wants, instead of going with whatever Dinah suggests.

It’s not like their sex life needs it, the singer ponders, they’re both very happy and satisfied with the things they do, but so far, she’s been the only one to suggest a few things, Helena’s been happily going along with her ideas, but never has brought up anything she might want to try.

“I like what we do”, Helena says, distracting her from her thoughts, “no, wait, scratch that, I  _ love _ what we do. I’m more than happy with that.”

“But there has to be something you want to do, or try”, Dinah says, smiling now though at the sweet words, “and whatever it is, you can tell me, I won’t judge or anything, I promise. Everyone has a kink.”

“Dinah”, Helena says in response, blush impossibly deepening even further, until Dinah starts to worry it might actually be bad for her health, “until three weeks ago, I didn’t even know what a kink  _ is. _ I’m happy with how things are, okay?”

“Alright”, Dinah decides to back off for now, she doesn’t want to make Helena even more uncomfortable than the poor woman already is, “but if you ever do think of something you want to try, you tell me, alright. Promise!”

“I promise”, Helena says at once, looking relieved now, and while Dinah believes her, she decides then and there that she will do what she can to find out what Helena’s kink might be, if only so she can repay her for all the times she has made her feel amazing.

* * *

The first thing Dinah tries is dirty talk, but that only has Helena stare at her as if she has grown a second head, so she quickly figures that this is not something which turns the assassin on.

She goes for candles and wax next, but as it turns out, Helena is not very fond of having hot wax dripped onto her stomach - even though it does something to Dinah, seeing the muscle tense when the wax hits - and the ice cubes turn out to be a failure, too; using chocolate sauce and whipped cream has a bit better results, but ends up in a messy bed, so Dinah is quite glad this hasn’t turned Helena on enough to be considered a kink.

Her question hasn’t been answered yet, but she doesn’t want to overdo it, figuring Helena will catch on if she tries too much too fast; and so Dinah slows down for a while, doesn’t bring anything new to the bedroom, but sticks to things they have done together before.

And it’s during one of those nights that Dinah finds out what turns Helena on beyond reason, and it happens completely unplanned. 

It happens when Helena has her head between the singer’s legs, and is quite focused on making her come with just her tongue; Dinah is moaning and groaning, one hand in Helena’s hair, the other clutching the blanket, and she doesn’t even think about it when she says “God, yes, so good, that’s my girl, so good”, the words just slip out.

She can feel Helena pause, and wonders if she has said something wrong when the pause lasts longer than it usually does when Helena has to take in a breath; worried, Dinah lifts her head, and finds Helena staring back at her, and there is  _ something _ in her eyes, clearly, hearing this has done something for her.

_ Oh my God _ , Dinah quickly catches on, despite how turned on she is,  _ she’s turned on by this. She’s turned on by me praising her. _

“Yeah”, she decides to test this theory, “that was very good, you’re a very good girl.”

Helena actually groans, and Dinah smiles, unreasonably happy at having found out at last what gets her motor really running; and apparently, her words are spurring Helena on to new heights, because when she remembers what she’s been doing and lowers her head again, her tongue does things it never has done before, and the praise Dinah heaps onto her comes without thinking.

Dinah comes shortly after the praise, and then for a while, she can just lie there, breathing heavily; Helena moves to hold her, and she lets out a happy sigh, taking a minute or two to recover - before she props herself up on one arm so she can look at the assassin, Helena blushing before she even says anything.

“I knew it”, Dinah announces, “you totally have a kink. Told you, everyone has one, and obviously, yours is being praised.”

“...I felt weird, telling you”, Helena shyly admits, “I mean, what a strange thing is that to get off on? I’m already messed up enough as it is.”

“Helena”, Dinah says at once, shaking her head for emphasis, “don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me something, no matter if it’s about things in the bedroom or other stuff. Okay? I’ll never judge you or laugh at you, I promise. You can trust me.”

“I do”, Helena tells her immediately, so heartfelt that Dinah doesn’t doubt her sincerity, “I trust you.”

“Good”, Dinah nods, then smiles with a hint of mischief, and as she continues, Helena blushes again, and groans, but in quite the good way. 

“You’re such a good girl”, Dinah says, and when Helena practically pounces her a second later, she knows she will make use of this new knowledge quite often in the future. 


	30. No Longer Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know I've done one about Helena having nightmares before, but this one wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to write it XD So, here's more Helena having nightmares and Dinah helping her with it :)

Sometimes, Dinah wakes in the middle of the night and Helena’s side of the bed is empty.

She doesn’t know if it happens  _ every  _ night, or if it’s a regular thing; sometimes when she briefly wakes, Helena is there and asleep, but Dinah is always just awake for a few moments then, and so she has no idea if the assassin has been gone before or after that, during the nights when she’s by her side.

At first, Dinah hasn’t thought much of it, figuring Helena has just gone to the bathroom and probably has come back shortly after Dinah’s gone back to sleep; as they live together for longer though, she starts to wonder if that is really the case or if there is another reason for the empty other side of the bed.

She’s not quite sure how to ask about it though, knowing she will feel like an overly worried fool if it turns out that Helena really just goes to the bathroom often during the night; and so, Dinah decides to not say anything, but to see if there is another way to find out.

She gets her chance, when she wakes again one night and Helena isn’t there, and the darkness from the adjoining bathroom shows her she’s not in there, either.

Now determined to find out what is going on, Dinah gets out of bed, pausing for a moment to listen, but the apartment is quiet; making sure to not make too much noise herself, Dinah steps out of the bedroom, and almost immediately spots Helena, pausing again as her eyes adjust to the darkness.

Helena is sitting on the windowsill, staring out into the night, barely more than a dark outline against the glass; Dinah can’t tell if she’s aware of her standing there and looking at her, but then, she’s a trained assassin and probably has known Dinah is awake and out of bed before she even has left the bedroom, the fact that she hasn’t moved to look at her not a certain proof that she’s not aware of her.

“Helena?” Dinah quietly says, not wanting to startle her in case she really hasn’t her noticed emerge from the bedroom, as unlikely as that seems; and now, she can see Helena move, the taller woman glancing at her before her gaze returns to the window, and Dinah can see her wiping at her eyes, and her heart clenches up.

Slowly, she moves over to where Helena is sitting, and stops next to her; there’s just enough weak light coming in through the window to let her see Helena’s reddened eyes, and her heart breaks, and she finds herself wondering how often this has happened before, how often Helena has cried out here alone while she has slumbered peacefully just a few feet away.

“Hey”, she says, unable to keep a hint of worry out of her voice, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing”, Helena says at once, not really surprising Dinah, they have been dating for a while, but Dinah is very aware of how hard it is for Helena to speak about her emotions, “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine”, Dinah quietly says, not unkindly, but Helena still looks away again, and pulls in a deep breath in an attempt to control her emotions, “and if you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, that’s okay, too, but don’t be dishonest with me about how you feel. Please.”

Helena runs a shaky hand through her hair in response, nods though when Dinah asks if it’s okay to touch her; and so, the singer places a hopefully calming hand on her back, and starts rubbing soothing circles, not saying anything for a while, just being there and giving Helena time to sort her thoughts.

“I don’t… sleep well, sometimes”, Helena says after a moment, and considering she’s been sitting in the dark and crying, Dinah figures that this is a bit of an understatement, but doesn’t say anything, she can sense Helena has more to say and doesn’t want to interrupt her, “I have… bad dreams. About my family.”

That’s not really surprising Dinah much, she would have been more surprised if Helena hadn’t been having nightmares about what has happened when she has been a child; she keeps rubbing her back, quietly reassuring her she is there, and that she’s not going anywhere, no matter what else Helena might reveal.

“Most nights, I just wake up for a second, roll over and go back to sleep”, Helena continues after a minute or two have ticked by in silence, “but sometimes it’s… bad. Then I get up and just sit here for a while.”

“Helena”, Dinah now does say something, and Helena must be able to hear at least some of how her heart has broken at those words through her voice, because she looks at her again, “don’t… please don’t do that. Don’t suffer through this alone.”

Helena says nothing, but Dinah can see  _ something _ in her eyes at her words, the realization perhaps that she isn’t alone anymore, that she has found her place and her love after years she has spent as a lone wolf; she says nothing, but she moves a bit, just enough so she can put one arm around the singer and pull her closer, against herself, Dinah taking the chance given to wrap both arms around her.

“Promise me”, Dinah mumbles, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head before she goes on, “promise me that next time it’s so bad, you wake me and let me help you.”

“Okay”, Helena says, making Dinah smile slightly, “and I’m sorry I’ve kept this from you.”

“Don’t be”, Dinah reassures her at once, “it’s okay. I just want to help you with this, alright? You shouldn’t have to do it on your own, not anymore. That’s part of the whole relationship package.”

To her relief, Helena manages a weak smile at that, looking less troubled than she has when Dinah has found her here; Dinah smiles back at her, then kisses her tenderly once more, on the lips this time, one hand moving to play with the assassin’s hair, something she knows Helena enjoys.

“Come back to bed with me?” she suggests, glad and relieved when Helena nods at once; they make their way back to the bedroom together, and once there, Helena immediately cuddles up to her, relaxing noticeably when Dinah wraps both arms around her.

“I’m happy I have you”, she hears Helena mumble into her hair, and it makes her heart soar; she squeezes her a bit in response, and kisses the top of her head again, and then just holds her until she can tell from her slowing breath that Helena’s drifting off into sleep again. 

Only once Dinah can be sure Helena is sleeping peacefully, she allows herself to drift off again, as well; and as they sleep, she keeps holding the taller woman close, quietly reassuring her that she’s there and that she no longer has to do all of this alone anymore. 


	31. Every Step of the Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some random fluff I wrote during quiet time at work, lol. Awkward Helena, confident Dinah, just how it goes XD

_ I really liked how you were able to kick so high. In those tight pants. _

Dinah is fairly certain she never has been complimented in such an awkward before ever in her life, but she’s not minding much, it has been adorable; back then, she’s chalked this up to the aftermath of a hard, gruelling fight, and never would have guessed that Helena Bertinelli, brilliant fighter and skilled assassin, could actually be an awkward mess whenever she is not in a fight.

As they form the Birds of Prey and start working together, Dinah quickly learns how wrong that assumption has been.

Helena is amazing when she fights, an unstoppable force which takes down men three times her size with ease, most evenings she doesn’t even break into a sweat during the fighting.

She’s much less amazing when it comes to anything else, always stiff and awkward, most of the times when the three of them hang out, she doesn’t talk much, and when she does, it always sounds stiff and rehearsed, as if she has thought her words over for quite a while before saying them out loud.

“You know, I can’t blame Harley for being fascinated with you”, Dinah comments one evening, when it’s just Helena and her, Renee having ducked out early for once, and somehow, Helena has managed to be even more awkward than usual, with all of the singer’s attention on her.

“I mean”, Dinah continues when Helena just looks at her blankly, “you’re the coolest, most badass person any of us has ever seen when we’re in a fight. But the second we’re not fighting? That completely changes, it’s like you’re two persons or something.”

Helena looks uncomfortable, clearly not having an idea what to respond to this; and immediately, Dinah feels bad for her, she’s not quite able to hold her observations back, but she also doesn’t want to make Helena uncomfortable, and so, she reaches over and grasps the taller woman’s hand, taking note of how Helena briefly tenses at the touch.

“I’m not making fun of you or anything”, Dinah tells her, just to make sure Helena knows this, “I just wonder… why? Why that is?”

“Why I’m weird?” Helena wants to know, raising an eyebrow, but at least she doesn’t look offended, so Dinah figures they’re good; she shrugs, wording it like that sounds sort of rude, and she really doesn’t want to be rude to Helena.

She’s grown to like the woman quite a bit since they have started as the Birds of Prey, so she wants to be the exact opposite of rude to her.

“i wouldn’t call it weird”, she says, and Helena raises her brows again, “more like… peculiar? But either way… why?”

Helena shrugs, she doesn’t really have an answer for that, and she never has thought much about it; she thinks for a moment, then sighs, aware of the fact that Dinah is still holding on to her hand, but not pulling away, the touch making her feel oddly warm inside.

“I guess I just turned out that way, being raised by three assassin guys”, she says, shrugging a bit, at the same time realizing she hasn’t revealed much more than that about her life before her return to Gotham so far, but she also realizes that she trusts Dinah enough to tell her more, she might not have been so open if anyone else had been around, but with just Dinah, it’s okay.

“They trained me for fifteen years”, she adds, Dinah listening attentively, well aware that Helena hasn’t revealed much about this so far and how special this is right now, “they taught me how to kill a man with my bare hands if I have to, and how to use a variety of weapons, how to fight… But they didn’t really have time to teach me about any of this social stuff. And I didn’t think I’d need it, so I never asked.”

“So you had no real plan?” Dinah asks, earning another shrug, “for when your mission is done?”

“Not really, no”, Helena admits, Dinah raising her brows now as she has been fairly certain that the assassin has had some sort of idea what she’d do once her list has been taken care of, “I just wanted to kill those guys, that was my only goal in life for the past fifteen years.”

“Huh”, Dinah lets out, not quite having expected that, “well… Guess it’s good you found us then, huh?”

“Very”, Helena replies at once, so solemn that it makes Dinah’s heart clench up, “I’m really not sure what I would have done otherwise. You mean a lot to me you know, um… I mean… you and Renee.”

“You mean a lot to me, as well”, Dinah tells her, deciding not to comment on how Helena quickly has corrected herself; she squeezes her hand, and Helena glancing down on their entwined fingers, then looks back up at her, once again sounding stiff and awkward when she speaks up, but she doesn’t let that stop her, something Dinah gives her credit for. 

“I’ve never really had… a friend”, she says, and Dinah’s heart flies out to her, “the men who raised me were kind enough, I suppose, considering who they are and what they do. But I wouldn’t call them my friends. So… Renee and you, you guys are the first friends I have but…”

“But?” Dinah prompts, having a vague hope where this might lead, and hoping she might not be disappointed; she can tell that Helena finds it hard to look at her now, but the assassin doesn’t allow herself to look away, despite how much willpower she clearly needs to keep her eyes focused on the singer. 

“But I think.... that I like you more than a friend should like another friend”, Helena admits, her face reddening, making her unbelievably adorable to Dinah, here she is, this tough assassin who never has been bested by an opponent, blushing at admitting that she likes her that way, “and I’m not sure that is good, or appropriate, but I can’t really help it…”

“It’s a good thing you told me this”, Dinah lets her know, glad when Helena looks a bit less nervous in response, “because now, I can do this, and won’t have to worry about your reaction.”

And with that, she leans in and kisses her, overjoyed when Helena kisses her back at once; she feels strong arms wrap around her and pull her closer, and when they pull apart again, Helena is smiling wider than Dinah ever has seen her do before, and she smiles back at once, moving one hand to gently cup her jaw as she holds her gaze.

“See”, she says, voice soft and gentle now, “perfectly good, and very appropriate.”

“I agree”, Helena mumbles, then kisses her once again; for a while, they just keep kissing, enjoying this new development, both of them breathing noticeably heavier when they finally do pull apart again.

“I’ve never… done any of this before”, Helena admits, blushing a bit again as she admits her lack of experience, “no friendships and certainly not more than that.”

“Don’t worry”, Dinah reassures her at once, earning another smile, “we’ll work this out together, alright? You and me, every step of the way.”

Helena smiles bravely, and nods, then kisses her yet again; she has been taught nothing but how to hurt and kill the past fifteen years, but she knows Dinah means it when she says they will work it out together, and she’s confident they will be able to do so.

Together, she thinks, liking the sound of that, every step of the way. 


	32. Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A random little scene about Dinah helping Helena out and a little talk between the two :) Apparently, my stepcat sleeping next to me inspires me to write such things, haha.

Dinah grimaces as the disinfectant burns in the cuts on her arms, but at least, she reasons, none of them is deep enough to require stitches; the gang which has been their target for the evening has turned out better armed than expected, and they all have gained a few injuries during the fight, but thankfully, none of the Birds of Prey has been hurt so badly that a trip to the hospital would have been necessary.

“I’ll go check on Helena”, she declares as she finishes taking care of her injuries, the assassin having vanished into the bathroom right when they’d arrived at their headquarters; Dinah hasn’t seen how she’s been injured at the fight, having been quite busy fighting off mooks left and right, but there has been blood dripping down Helena’s fingers when they’d gotten into the car, so she knows that she hasn’t made it out of the fight unscathed.

Renee just lets out a vaguely agreeing noise, busy with taking care of her own injuries and not surprised the slightest that Dinah is going to check on Helena, unlike the woman herself, she has taken note of how Dinah looks at the assassin; Dinah still takes a moment to toss the bloodied gauze she has used to clean her cuts into the trash, then goes to find Helena, knocking the bathroom door before she enters.

She steps inside, and freezes at once, because Helena is sitting on the floor, and she’s busy stitching herself up

“Helena!” Dinah exclaims after a few seconds have ticked by, “what are you doing?!”

“I’m stitching that up”, Helena tells her, in a tone which shows she isn’t quite sure why Dinah is asking her this, as it’s quite obvious; Dinah blinks, then moves closer for a better look at the wound, and when she does get a look at it, she grimaces, it’s already halfway stitched up, but the part Helena is still working on looks torn up, a deep gash running up her arm to her shoulder.

“One of them had a bicycle chain”, Helena explains before Dinah can ask how that has happened, as it doesn’t look like the sort of wound a knife would cause, “landed a good hit. Ruined my jacket, too.”

“How dreadful”, Dinah deadpans, but Helena seems to take the words at face value, as she nods immediately; she’s paused her work when she’s talked to Dinah, but now she moves as if to continue, Dinah stopping her though before she can, taking a quick step forward as she shakes her head.

“Come on”, she says as she moves to sit beside her, so that she can easily get at the wound, “let me help you with that, jeez, you shouldn’t be doing that all on your own.”

“I’ve done it before”, Helena tells her, lets it happen though that Dinah takes the needle from her and gets to work, “it’s no big deal, really.”

“It might not be”, Dinah replies, keeping her gaze focused on the injury so she won’t mess up, “but that’s one of the perks of being part of a team, you know. You got people now to help you out with stuff like this.”

She briefly glances at Helena’s face, knowing it has to hurt to have that stitched up, but Helena shows not the slightest reaction; Dinah isn’t sure if she should find this worrisome or be impressed, her gaze focusing on the injury again as she speaks up.

“So your assassin dads taught you how to do this?” she asks, making sure to keep her voice light even though she’s a bit worried, Helena hasn’t told her much about her time in Sicily and her training, but she has once revealed quite casually that the first time she’d had broken ribs had been after a training session, and it seems a bit harsh to Dinah to hit someone hard enough to break bone during training, “please tell me they didn’t randomly cut you with a knife to teach you that.”

“They did not”, Helena says, and Dinah feels relieved for a second, before the assassin goes on, “but I did get cut deep enough for stitches once, when they taught me how to fight someone who has a knife. That’s when they also taught me how to stitch up a wound.”

Dinah makes a face, but doesn’t say anything about how she thinks this is reckless and stupid, she knows Helena thinks highly of the men who’ve trained her, and they did teach her well, Dinah supposes, seeing how good she is at kicking ass; she keeps her focus on the wound, and half a minute ticks by, then Helena speaks up again, and her words surprise Dinah, as she’s been fairly certain the woman isn’t very good at picking up moods and thoughts from other people.

“You think that’s bad”, Helena half says, half asks, Dinah now glancing at her face again after all, “that they’d do this.”

“...yeah”, Dinah admits after a moment, glad when Helena doesn’t look upset or even angry, “I know you think highly of them, and I know they’ve taught you well, but I think it’s not necessary to cut someone deep enough so it needs stitches during training.”

Helena just shrugs, which earns her a strict look from the singer, and she sits still again; she clears her throat, the floor between her feet suddenly very interesting, Dinah giving her a sympathetic look when she speaks up and her voice clearly shows that she’s uncomfortable.

“It’s probably not”, she admits, “but… they were all I had, you know.”

“Well, they’re not, not anymore”, Dinah kindly tells her, glad when Helena looks at her again, “you got us now. And I officially am willing to stitch you up whenever you might need it.”

“Thank you”, Helena says feelingly, surprising Dinah a moment later by reaching over with her uninjured hand and touching hers; it’s not often that Helena touches Renee or her, and it makes her feel quite special, a small smile curling her lips while Helena pulls back again.

“You’re welcome”, she says as she finishes the stitches, then bandages the wound up, Helena obediently raising her arm to make this easier, “I mean it, you know. Anytime.”

She gets done with the bandage and comes to her feet again, Helena doing the same, apparently not bothered the slightest by the wound; for a few moments, they just look at each other, then Helena clears her throat and mumbles something about washing her hands, Dinah figuring she should do the same once Helena is done.

She watches the taller woman clean the blood off her hands, knowing it’s a big thing to be told these things about Helena’s past - and knowing it has been an important step on this strange path Helena and she seem to be on, and she can’t wait to see where it will take them. 


	33. Observation Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinah and Helena are waiting for a target to show up, but Dinah gets bored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is quiet, so what better way to pass the time than write some random Helena/Dinah fluff. XD

Dinah has expected many things when they have started working together as the Birds of Prey, ranging from fighting to exciting car chases or running after criminals on foot to actual gunfights.

What she certainly hasn’t expected is to be bored.

It feels as if they have been sitting on this roof for hours, Helena having chosen it as the perfect spot to keep an eye on the apartment of the man they are after, the head of a gang of drug dealers, Dinah knows it probably hasn’t actually been that long, but she is still bored out of her mind.

And to make it even worse, Helena is in full Huntress mode, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the dark windows of the man’s place and only answering her with short grunts whenever she says something.

“Shit, this is so boring”, Dinah declares after another minute has ticked by painfully slow, “I’m going to fall asleep, just so you know. I’m bored, nothing is happening, and my girlfriend just keeps staring at that window and ignores me instead of making it better.”

“I’m not ignoring you”, Helena says at once, looking at her now, but Dinah can tell she makes sure to keep the dark apartment in her field of vision, “I’m focused on the job!”

“Nothing is happening”, Dinah tells her again, gesturing at the building in question, “that guy might not be home for hours, do you just want to sit here all night and stare at the windows?”

Helena just shrugs, apparently not minding the thought much; Dinah fights the urge to roll her eyes, but can’t hold back a sigh, flopping back onto the roof so she can stare up at the night sky, folding her hands beneath her head to be more comfortable.

“If you fall asleep lying down like that, I’ll poke you”, Helena tells her, and Dinah raises her head a bit to look at her before she shrugs and lies back down; for a few moments, there’s silence, then she speaks up again, her position not letting her see Helena looking at her again, but she feels the assassin’s eyes on her nonetheless.

“At least I’ll be awake then”, she says, hearing Helena snort in amusement, the sound making her smile; she thinks back to how Helena has been when they have started their little group, quiet and serious, and how much has changed since then, how much easier Helena’s smile and even laughter comes these days.

“Tell me”, Dinah goes on, propping herself up on her elbows again after all so she can look at the other woman, “are you not bored out of your mind because you’ve done this a million times before?”

“Not a million times”, Helena corrects her, Dinah smiling a bit at how literal-minded she can be, even though she has gotten better at recognizing sarcasm and teasing, “but yeah, a few times. I couldn’t just walk into Gallante’s home and shoot him, you know.”

“What did you do to not get bored?” Dinah wants to know, earning a shrug in response, “it must have been even worse because you were all alone!”

Helena shrugs again, glancing at the still dark windows once more before her gaze focuses on Dinah; the singer looks back at her curiously, and after a moment, Helena does answer her verbally, as well.

“I just went over plans and tactics”, she tells her, once more glancing at the windows to make sure she won’t miss anything, “thought about how to best pull off the hit, you know. Stuff like that.”

She doesn’t tell Dinah that sometimes, she also has thought of those dreadful moments when her family has been gunned down, of how it has felt to have her mother’s blood splash onto her face, her dead weight on her body; the memories have helped her fuel her rage back then, have given her the determination she has needed, but this is a nice moment right now, here with Dinah, and she doesn’t want to ruin this with dark memories. 

Dinah can tell that she’s not told her everything right now though, she knows Helena well at this point and knows when she is keeping something to herself; she doesn’t push her to reveal more, but moves closer to her instead, making her smile by cuddling up to her and wrapping both arms around her.

“Next time we do this”, she says after just enjoying being so close to Helena for a minute or two, “we’ll bring a board game or something. Maybe playing cards.”

Helena smirks at that and shakes her head, Dinah winking at her and giving her a smile - before she leans in for a kiss, and even though Helena knows she shouldn’t allow herself to be distracted like this, she kisses back at once, there is no way she could resist the feeling of Dinah’s lips on her own.

Dinah moves so that she ends up straddling her lap as the kiss deepens, Helena responding by wrapping both arms around her and pulling her even closer; and as they keep kissing, she even forgets all about the task at hand, even though her eyes immediately stray to the windows again once they have pulled apart again.

Dinah rolls her eyes at Helena looking for any movement in the dark apartment literally the second they have stopped kissing, doesn’t say anything though; she kisses Helena again instead, once more successfully distracting her from keeping an eye on the windows.

The apartment remains dark for the rest of the night, but as Helena and Dinah have found a very pleasant way to keep themselves busy, neither of them really minds. 


	34. Cuddly Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got this most adorable prompt: can you do a dinah x helena fic where they get a dog from the animal shelter and ofc helena goes completely overboard with spoiling and loving the dog :D  
> Enjoy :D

“I know what you need”, Harley declares as she pops into the kitchen, and Helena blinks, she’s fairly certain she has locked the apartment door, but then, a locked door never has been enough to stop Harley, not if she really wants to get into a place.

“Hello to you, too, Harley”, Dinah calls from the living room, and Helena can hear her roll her eyes through her tone; unperturbed, Harley shouts a hello back, and a moment later, Dinah appears in the doorframe and leans against it, crossing her arms over her chest as she raises an eyebrow at Harley.

“So what does Helena need?” she wants to know, and Helena makes a face, not sure she wants to hear this, “and I’m warning you, if you say something along the lines of  _ Some Harley sitting on her face _ now, I’ll Canary Cry you out the window.”

“Nah, I know she’s all yours”, Harley says with a dismissive wave of her hand, “Helena, Huntress, my tall dark and adorkable friend, what you need is… a pet.”

“A pet”, Helena echoes, and Harley nods at once, then grins, moving over and dipping her finger into the sauce Helena is busy cooking, ignoring both the heat of it and the way Helena swats at her with her cooking spoon.

“Yes, a pet”, she then confirms, nodding again while she licks her finger and lets out a noise of appreciation, “a cat, or a dog. A dog! You love jogging anyway, you can jog with the little doggy. And it can protect your home from burglars! Also, I know you’re heaping all your love and affection onto Dinah, but it won’t hurt to have some other living thing you can take care of. You know. For your issues.”

“Harley”, Dinah says warningly, and Harley thankfully gets the hint, not taking further about any issues Helena might have; she tries to dip her finger into the sauce again, but this time Helena stops her at the last second, glaring at her,  earning a toothy grin as the smaller woman backs off.

“You know Cass loves that sauce”, Harley then says thoughtfully, and Helena sighs before she tells Harley she’ll fill up a tupper box for her; Harley grins again, and Dinah shakes her head at their antics, but she knows Helena at this point, and she knows Helena hasn’t dismissed the idea of a pet as quickly as it might seem right now.

* * *

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you”, Dinah says quite a while later, as they are getting ready to go to bed, “about what Harley said. So, cat or dog?”

“...well, I’ve always wanted a dog when I was little”, Helena admits, blushing a bit, “but my parents always said No, claiming they would end up taking care of it.”

“I never thought I’d say this”, Dinah tells her as she cuddles up to her, smiling when strong arms immediately wrap around her, “but Harley might have a point. Not that I mind being the only person you heap all your love and affection onto, but pets are said to have a therapeutic effect.”

“I guess so”, Helena says, shrugging a bit, “honestly, I haven’t thought much about it after… everything. No time for pets in Sicily, you know, so…”

“Yeah”, Dinah nods, Helena hasn’t told her much about her time in Sicily, but she has revealed that the assassins who’d taken her in had given her quite the strict daily schedule once it had been decided she would train for revenge, and they hadn’t left her much leisure time, “but you got time now. So why don’t we head to the pet shelter tomorrow? Just for a look.”

“Sure, why not”, Helena says non-committedly, but Dinah knows her, and can tell she is excited; she smiles and presses a gentle kiss to her lips, then cuddles up to her again, and a short while later, both are fast asleep, with a plan for the next day already made.

* * *

When they arrive at the shelter, Helena looks a bit overwhelmed, and Dinah can’t blame her - it’s quite loud, and a bit smelly, dogs are barking and cats are meowing and birds are chirping, but the lady who greets them looks quite happy that they are there and leads them to the dogs immediately when Dinah tells her they are looking for one.

Helena holds on to her hand the whole time, glancing around as if she expects a gang of mooks to jump out at them, or perhaps, Dinah reflects, she’s looking for exits and potential weapons, she has gotten a bit more relaxed since they have started working together, but it has been trained into her to always check these things, and Dinah doubts she will ever stop.

The lady leads them past a few kennels, but none of the dogs in there catch Helena’s eye; she stops dead at one of them though, staring at the dog within, a large black bulldog, his face looks as if he repeatedly ran face first against the wall, Dinah thinks to herself, but Helena seems quite fascinated by the animal.

“Oh, you like him?” the shelter lady wants to know, “he’s been with us for a while, poor thing got dropped off by his owners when they had to move. His name’s Hunter, he’s knows the basics like Sit and Fetch, but not much more than that.”

“His name’s Hunter?” Helena repeats, and the lady nods; Helena looks at Dinah, and that look is enough to tell Dinah that the decision has been made, Helena looks as if she wants to grab the dog right there and cover his squished-in face with kisses. 

“Looks like we found our favourite”, Dinah thus says, and the lady smiles happily, nodding eagerly as she asks them to follow her to the office, then; and a short while later, they walk out of the shelter with Hunter trotting along happily, Helena holding the leash they have been given, but he moves along besides her as if she wouldn’t even need it, as if he’d been doing so for years.

“We need to get stuff for him”, Helena declares as they walk to Dinah’s car, “he needs a bed, and a bowl, and another one for water, and toys, and treats and…”

She keeps talking, Dinah just nodding along, smiling to herself; she can tell Helena is head over heels in love with the dog, she herself finds him adorable too, and now, she tells herself, she just has to manage to not let Helena buy the whole pet store for him.

* * *

Dinah does manage to not let Helena buy the whole store, but it’s a close call, and the car is nearly overflowing with stuff when they drive back to their apartment, it’s a miracle the two of them and the dog still fit in there, with all the things Helena has bought.

There’s an abundance of toys, a large dog bed, bowls, a new leash and a new collar - black, of course - and enough food to last them for at least a month; and the moment they get home, Helena gets to work setting it all up, making Dinah shake her head by putting the dog bed next to their actual bed.

“What”, the assassin says as she fluffs it up, “he’s not used to this place, he might get scared.”

“He’s a bulldog who probably weighs more than the two of us combined”, Dinah points out, “I doubt he’ll get scared.”

She takes another critical look at the bed, then decides it’s fine and returns to the living room, the dog trotting along; and the moment Helena sits down on the couch, he hops up and into her lap, a low “ooff” escaping her as his weight settles on her.

“Oh my God”, Dinah lets out as the dog moves to place his paws on the assassin’s shoulders and then licks her face, “this is the cutest thing. Shit, I need a pic of this, don’t move.”

She pulls out her phone and snaps a few pictures, it’s somewhat amazing how quickly the dog is getting close to Helena, but clearly, the assassin doesn’t mind, rubbing his fur as he sits on her and happily wags his tail, and the smile on Helena’s face makes Dinah feel all warm and tingly inside.

“Adorable”, she says, and Helena is not quite sure if she is talking about the dog, about her or about both of them; she’s fine with either option though, smiling at her as Hunter moves to curl up in her lap.

Putting her phone away, Dinah sits down next to her, and kisses her; and as she sees the joy on Helena’s face, she has to admit that Harley has been right - this is truly what Helena needs, and she’s glad that she gets to have it. 


	35. Getting to Know Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quiet work time at home = a random snippet I wrote about Helena and Dinah getting to know each other a little better. Enjoy :D

“So”, Dinah says as she flops down onto the couch next to Helena and looks at her, “tell me about yourself.”

Helena blinks and looks at her and says nothing; Dinah patiently looks back at her, and the seconds tick by, until the singer loses her patience and raises her brows, Helena giving a shrug in response, clearly having no idea what Dinah is going for.

“Like what”, she finally says, if only so this awkward feeling will stop; she’s finished her kill list a few weeks ago, and they have started working together as the Birds of Prey, and Helena has quickly realized that she feels awkward a lot whenever she’s not kicking ass, especially when it’s just Dinah and her, the way they are now.

She’s not quite sure what it means that Dinah seems to make her so much more awkward than Renee, and she’s not sure she actually wants to find out.

“Whatever you want”, Dinah says, Helena only feeling more confused in reply, “like, your favourite things, age, stuff like that. If we work together, we should know more about each other than our names.”

“Uhm, well”, Helena starts, not quite sure what to tell her, she’s not certain that “my motorcycle” counts as a favourite thing, but she doesn’t have much more than that, “so… I’m twenty-four, my birthday is in November, I like purple. And my motorcycle.”

“And your crossbow”, Dinah notes, making Helena nod while she’s glad that it hasn’t been referred to as a “bow and arrow” again, “you’re really good with that you know, where’d you learn that?”

That makes Helena realize that, while Dinah knows about the massacre, she has no idea what Helena does done after that; for a moment, she considers to just shrug and give an obtuse answer like “training”, then decides against it, figuring that Dinah has a point when saying they should get to know each other if they’re working together as a team.

“Uhm, Sicily”, she thus says, not quite sure how much to reveal, but Dinah is raising her brows and looks genuinely interested, so she keeps talking before she can overthink it and stop herself, “there was this guy, working for my family when that happened, he found me alive and got me out of there.”

“And took you to Sicily?” Dinah wants to know, earning another shrug before Helena nods, figuring she might as well elaborate, if only so Dinah knows how well trained she actually is.

“To his father, and brother”, she clarifies, Dinah raising her brows again at the thought of three grown men raising a traumatized child, her eyes widening further at what Helena says next, “assassins, they took me in and trained me.”

“Oh wow”, Dinah lets out, she’s figured out at this point that Helena has had some sort of training normal people don’t receive, but it’s the first time she hears about this, “yeah, that explains how you’re so good at this. And a few other things, as well.”

Helena looks confused and questioning at that, and Dinah colours a bit, realizing too late that this perhaps hasn’t been very sensitive; she clears her throat, then shrugs and awkwardly gestures at Helena, only confusing the taller woman further. 

“Well, you know”, Dinah tries to explain, mind racing as she tries to figure out how to do so without actually offending the assassin, “you are a bit…”

She trails off,  _ weird _ sounds too insulting and so do  _ peculiar _ and  _ eccentric _ ; Helena raises her brows and waits for her to continue, and Dinah shrugs helplessly, realizing too late she has no way to say this without having it sound offensive.

“Weird”, Helena finishes for her after half a minute has ticked by in very loud silence, “I’m weird.”

“I wouldn’t put it like that”, Dinah mumbles, blushing a bit again, oddly embarrassed, and if that isn’t a new and strange experience for her; Helena just keeps looking back at her, her face perfectly neutral, and this makes Dinah feel even more embarrassed about the whole thing.

“Look, I’m sorry, I meant no offense”, she finally can’t take the way Helena is staring at her anymore, “I just…”

She notices how the corners of Helena’s mouth twitch, and falls silent, her eyes narrowing; and at that, Helena appears to give in, one of her rare smiles curling her lips while Dinah huffs, she can’t believe Helena of all people has just played her like that.

“It’s fine”, Helena tells her, and Dinah feels relieved even though she still can’t believe Helena has tricked her like that, “I know I’m weird. And Renee has told me that I’m the strangest person she has ever met, and how that means something because she’s been a cop, so  _ weird _ isn’t even that bad.”

“Well, you’re weird in a good way”, Dinah tries to make amends still, glad when this earns her another short smile from the assassin; she smiles back at her, then leans into the couch comfortably again, giving her a look of appreciation which quickly sends Helena back to feeling awkward.

“That explains how you’re in such good shape though”, Dinah says somewhat thoughtfully, Helena raising her brows again as Dinah isn’t in bad shape herself, “training with professional assassins probably does that, huh.”

“I guess so”, Helena has to admit, “it was hard at first you know, but it got easier every day, once I started building up muscle and stamina.”

“And you built up quite a bit of that”, Dinah tells her, reaching out and giving her biceps an appreciative squeeze; Helena gapes at her, Dinah smirking at her as this has been exactly what she has been going for, a sort of small revenge for Helena playing her. 

“Well”, she says, coming to her feet again, Helena blinking again, still a bit stunned, “that was a nice talk. We should repeat this some time soon, I want to know more about that training of yours.”

She gives her arm another pat, then turns and walks off, feeling Helena’s eyes on her as she does so, and smiling to herself.

It might take a while to get to know Helena, Dinah thinks to herself, but she’s quite certain it will be worth the wait. 


	36. How to get Huntress to hold still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I blame Lehane for this one :P  
> Helena has an ouchie, but won't hold still. Dinah knows what to do.  
> NSFW, there are handcuffs involved.

“I’m telling you”, Helena insists, shaking her head for emphasis, “that’s not necessary, I’m okay.”

“You got a cut”, Dinah argues back, waving the disinfectant and the piece of gauze she already has drenched in it, even though she might have to repeat that if Helena stalls much longer, “and that guy’s knife certainly wasn’t clean. Now let me clean it.”

Helena winces when Dinah practically corners her on the bed and pushes her shirt up to get at the wound; it’s just a shallow cut, right beneath her ribcage, but Dinah has seen the guy who has used the knife which has caused said cut, and he has been far from hygienic and clean, so she’s not willing to take any chances.

“Hold still”, she scolds when Helena tries to squirm away from the gauze, wincing again when Dinah manages to get it on the wound for like a second, “jeez, woman, I’ve seen you dig a bullet out of your own leg and this makes you squeamish?”

“Hmph”, is all Helena has to say to that, then tries to avoid the gauze once more, and Dinah shakes her head before she gives her a strict look, pointing to the very stable headboard of her bed when she speaks up, not quite serious, but still managing to sound stern.

“Helena, I swear”, she says, giving her another hard look, “you don’t hold still now, I’ll cuff you to the bed.”

She expects several reactions, from indignation to perhaps Helena laughing at her or giving her that flat Huntress-stare; what she certainly  _ doesn’t  _ expect is for Helena to go very still, and to blush, and to swallow heavily, and Dinah’s mouth falls open.

“Oh shit”, she then says, slowly starting to grin, “that thought alone gets you horny, doesn’t it.”

“No!” Helena denies it at once, but Dinah knows her, and knows what to look for, so she just raises her brows; and after a moment, Helena blushes again and mumbles “yes” as she slumps down, suddenly finding the blanket she is sitting on very interesting.

“Well”, Dinah lightly says, leaning over her and to her nightstand, pulling the bottom drawer open and reaching into it, “then it’s a good thing I actually own those.”

She pulls a pair of handcuffs from the drawer, and Helena swallows heavily again, unable to take her eyes off of them; she knows from one look that this is the real deal, no fuzz on them and no way to open them without the key.

“Those are police cuffs”, she says, briefly glancing at Dinah before her gaze focuses on them again, “where did you…?”

“I got contacts”, Dinah mysteriously replies, then moves to kiss her, and as she does so, she pushes her onto her back and grasps her arms, and Helena lets it happen that she pulls up them up, groaning into her mouth when the cold steel clicks around her wrists moments later. 

“Alright”, Dinah says, picking up the gauze again and smirking when Helena lets out a decidedly less pleased groan at the sight, “now I’ll clean this, and then I will reward you. Hold still.”

“Not like I can go anywhere”, Helena points out as she tucks at the cuffs for emphasis, and Dinah knows the hoarse sound of her voice quite well, that certain tone she gets when she’s aroused; she smiles at her, then moves to clean the wound, Helena holding still this time, clearly looking forward to her reward.

“There”, Dinah says a short while later, tossing the gauze aside carelessly, “all done. Now it’s time for the pleasant part.”

She gives her a smile, then moves to straddle her and kisses her; she can feel Helena pull at the cuffs again, clearly eager to touch her, but for now, Dinah is the only one capable of touching, and she makes good use of that, pushing up Helena’s shirt so she can run her hands over her stomach, enjoying how the muscle tenses at her touch.

“Tell me”, she mumbles as she pulls back from the kiss, taking a moment to run her tongue up the taller woman’s throat and making her groan again, “how much do you want this?”

“So much”, Helena manages, gritting her teeth when Dinah’s hands move to her pants; she deftly opens them, but doesn’t pull them down, smirking down on her, clearly enjoying it to have her at her mercy like this.

“How much do you want me?” she asks, running her fingers over the hem of Helena’s pants; Helena needs a moment for a few breaths, voice even hoarser when she responds, her words making Dinah’s smile widen at once.

“More than anything”, Helena manages, and Dinah rewards her with a kiss for that; and then, she kisses her way down the assassin’s body, and when she pulls Helena’s pants down, she can already tell how much this turns her on, warm wetness greeting her when she moves one hand between the other woman’s legs.

“Yeah”, she lightly says, just needing to move her fingers a tiny bit to make Helena groan and grit her teeth again, “I can tell how much you want this.”

She increases her efforts a bit, not that she has to do much as soon, Helena is panting and moaning at her touch; she watches closely how the assassin reacts to her touch, keeps her gaze on Helena’s face as she thinks that Helena close to orgasm is one of the hottest things she has ever seen, and so, that is why she misses how Helena’s biceps bulge as she nears her climax. 

She only realizes what is happening when there is a loud  _ crrrrrrack _ and suddenly, Helena reaches up and grasps her with still cuffed hands. 

“Helena!” Dinah scolds, Helena looking sheepish now, apparently having broken the headboard just when she’s hit her climax, “you broke my bed!”

“I’ll buy you a new one”, Helena tells her, and then she’s kissing her, and successfully distracts her from the broken bed.

Helena does buy her a new one right in the next day, and it comes with an artfully made dark metal headboard, much sturdier than the wooden one she’s had before. 


	37. Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt I got on tumblr: I know you've done nightmares already but could you do Helena x Dinah dealing with Helena’s panic attacks?

The first time it happens, Dinah is woefully unprepared, and has no idea what is happening.

They are out as the Birds of Prey, fighting a gang of weapon smugglers, and it is going well, it’s going perfectly fine; the three of them are working together well at this point, playing off each other as they fight, Dinah kicking one guy into Helena’s direction so she can finish him with a hefty shoulder throw, then Renee punching one hard enough to make him stagger her way, so Dinah can finish the job with a powerful kick to his chest.

Everything is going well, and Dinah has no idea what sets it off, but when the last body hits the ground, Helena is on her knees and panting heavily, and for a moment, Dinah thinks she is dreadfully hurt, maybe got stabbed or shot, even though she hasn’t seen any knives and hasn’t heard any gunshots.

It’s Renee who realizes what is going on, who moves to kneel next to Helena and, in a voice gentler than Dinah ever has heard her, asks her if it’s okay to touch her; she keeps her hands to herself when Helena shakes her head, says that it’s okay and no problem, and then, absurdly, asks Helena for five things she can hear.

It seems absurd, but it seems to work, too, as Helena’s laboured breathing calms down a bit again; her voice is trembling when she tells Renee the five things, a tremble Dinah never has heard before, and that only convinces her further that something quite drastic is going on.

Whatever it is, Renee seems to be able to help Helena through it, telling her that she is doing great as she lists things she can hear and telling her to focus on that and on her breathing; and after a bit, Helena can get to her feet again, looking pale and embarrassed, and all Dinah wants is to rush to her and hug her, but she doesn’t want to make this worse, Helena finds it hard to look them both in the eye now and Dinah can easily tell she wishes this never would have happened in front of them.

Renee takes Dinah aside later, once Helena is fast asleep in her room at the warehouse they have remodeled to serve as their headquarters and sort of living space, for when they are too tired to go their respective homes after a mission, and explains what has been going on, in a low voice so Helena won’t wake up, they both know she’s a light sleeper, and Dinah figures she can need some rest, after what has happened during the fight.

“Panic attack”, Renee gets right to the point, “that’s what took Crossbow out tonight.”

“Oh”, Dinah lets out, perhaps not all too smart, but then Renee has been somewhat blunt, verbally whacking her over the head with that information; Renee gives her a wry smile, and shrugs, taking the time to refill her glass before she continues, and Dinah feels for Helena all over at what the former cop is saying.

“I’m not surprised she has them, honestly”, Renee tells her, “half of her childhood trauma would be enough to cause them. And you should know what to do for when it happens again, because I’m pretty sure it will.”

“Okay”, Dinah nods at once, figuring this makes sense, knowing this is as important as knowing how to stitch someone up in their line of work, “yeah, you’re right, I should. You asked her to tell you about five things she can hear, I heard that.”

“Yup”, Renee agrees, taking a sip of her drink before she goes on, “learned that on the force. It might not help every time, but often, take the person’s mind off the panic and give them something else to focus on. And don’t touch her without asking first if it’s okay when she’s having one, she might lash out without thinking, and we both know how hard she can hit.”

Dinah makes a face at that and nods, glad though that now she knows what to do in case this ever happens again and Renee isn’t around to help; Renee gives her a few more bits of advice on how to deal with a panic attack, tells her to remain calm even if it’s scary, and Dinah nods along, not quite sure she’ll be able to do it, but telling herself she can do this for Helena, the assassin means much to her and she wants to be able to help her with this, no matter how scary it is.

She ends up needing that new knowledge faster than expected, because when it happens the next time, it’s just Helena and her, they are outside their favourite bar, just having left after another successful night out and a round of victory drinks.

Renee has headed out after the first drink, after having received a text on her phone, and judging from the grin which had been on her face, she’s going to meet Ellen; Helena and Dinah each have had another drink each, then decide to call it a night as well, they are walking side by side and Dinah is happily recounting the highlights of their fight, and they’re both content, happy, even, feeling good about themselves.

Then a car drives by and the engine has a series of misfires, it's a loud  _ rat-tat-tat  _ sort of sound, and suddenly, Helena is pale and sweaty and breathing heavily and staggers, she grabs the wall for support and Dinah almost moves to help her, remembering in the last second what Renee has told her and managing to keep herself from touching the taller woman.

“Hey”, she says instead, mind racing as she tries to remember everything Renee has told her about this, and she reminds herself to sound calm and collected, but it’s not easy, not when Helena is breathing like this and so pale, she can feel her own heart speed up at that.

She’s seen Helena go up against ten men without as much as a hint of fear, and seeing her like this fills her with dread of her own, but she tells herself there is no time for this now, Helena needs her now and needs her help to get through this, and she has to stay calm to accomplish that.

“Helena, hey”, she says again, glad when Helena looks at her, “I know what’s happening, it’s going to be okay, alright? Just… Tell me… tell me five things you can see, right now.”

“The wall”, Helena manages in response, one hand still against said wall for support, and Dinah wonders if she would have gone down to her knees again, had the wall not been there, “and… the sidewalk and… that green car over there and that streetlamp and… you.”

“Good”, Dinah says, Helena is still breathing heavily, but looks a bit less panicked now, so she figures she’s doing okay, and she remembers how Renee has kept telling Helena that she is doing good when she has helped her through this, “yes, that’s good, okay, um… The wall, can you focus on that? How it feels beneath your hand, that and… and my voice, okay? Focus on those things and it will be okay.”

She keeps talking, Helena is looking at her now and her breathing is slowing down further, and that has to be good, so Dinah puts her own hand onto the wall and talks about how it feels to her, the cold and rough stone beneath her hand, how it’s different to the wall at the warehouse she sometimes leans against, that wall is cold too, but smooth, and she has been thinking about driving some nails into said wall so she can hang some pictures.

Slowly, as Dinah talks, Helena’s breathing slows further, and some colour returns to her face; and finally, she seems to feel much better, letting go of the wall and straightening up again, looking embarrassed again, just like when Dinah has witnessed this for the first time.

“I’m good”, Helena mumbles before Dinah can ask her if she’s okay, “sorry. This… shouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t be sorry”, Dinah tells her at once, daring to touch her now, and glad when there’s no negative reaction when she places one hand on Helena’s arm, “I’m glad I could help.”

“You did”, Helena solemnly lets her know, swallowing before she goes on, “your voice, it… it helped a lot. I really like listening to you.”

Dinah can tell how much it has cost her to admit this, and so, she says nothing, she just smiles - and lets her hand glide down Helena’s arm, until she can grasp her hand, her smile widening when she feels Helena’s fingers curl around her own. 

She starts talking again as they get moving again, about the paintings she thinks about hanging, and Helena listens attentively as she speaks, nodding every now and then… and for the whole way back to the warehouse, neither of them pulls back, holding on to the other’s hand until they have arrived at home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a prompt you want to see? Hit me up :D


	38. Sound of Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt I got: I know Helena has a lot of issues cause like, who wouldn't... but Dinah has also had to deal with a lot of stuff in her life, like losing her mother and working for Sionis. Could you make a fic where like Dinah has a bad day or is just felling kinda off and Helena takes care of her?

When she has come back to Gotham from Sicily, Helena has been used to silence.

The men who’d raised her hadn’t been big on small talk or conversation outside of her lessons, and she hasn’t minded; the area in Sicily itself has been quiet, too, somewhat secluded from the next village, the perfect place to train someone how to kill people.

Coming back to Gotham has been a shock in that regard, the city is noisy and loud, but after a while, Helena has gotten used to it; she’s still had the quiet of her own home, the only noise there has been the low, constant hum of various electrical appliances and the sounds she has made herself when training or maintaining her weapons.

Then, Dinah and she have begun their relationship, and after a while Dinah has moved in with her; and from the first day on Dinah has begun living with her, the silence has stopped, Dinah either has music playing or is singing or humming herself, and Helena has found herself enjoying this, it makes the place feel alive and hearing Dinah sing warms her heart. 

It takes her mere days to get used to the constant music and sound, to living with another person; and she can tell it’s just as easy for Dinah, they just work well together, and Dinah pushes aside the silence in her home and in her heart, fills her with music and joy and love.

She gets used to it quickly, and she enjoys it, and so, it’s jarring when she comes home from her morning run one day and the place is quiet.

For a minute, Helena thinks that perhaps, Dinah has gone out, but she usually sends her a text when she does so while Helena is out, and no such message has arrived; and as she makes her way to the living room, she finds Dinah on the couch there, curled up with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring out the window.

“Hey”, Helena says, this is new, but then, they haven’t been living together for that long, she reasons, so maybe this is something Dinah does every now and then, needing a break from the music and singing, perhaps; the first pangs of worry make themselves known though when Dinah barely glances at her, and the “hey” she lets out in return is oddly subdued, so different from how she usually sounds.

Helena pauses then, usually, she gets a kiss when she comes home and then goes straight to the shower after her run, and by the time she gets done with that, coffee is ready; this time though, she can’t hear the telltale gurgling of the coffee machine from the kitchen, and Dinah barely had acknowledged her, the feeling that something is wrong suddenly weighing heavily on her chest.

“Dinah?” she starts, not really sure what to say or do, she has been getting about the whole social interaction thing, thanks to Dinah’s patience and willingness to help and teach her, “are you… okay?”

Dinah just shrugs, and Helena feels awkward as she stands there and looks at her; a few seconds tick by in silence, then she moves to sit on the couch near Dinah, her heart clenching oddly when Dinah pulls her legs up further in response, as if to make sure there won’t be any sort of touching.

“Are you sure?” Helena tries again, she’s not sure this is the right thing to do, but she can’t just walk away and leave Dinah here like this when she’s fairly certain Dinah is not okay; this time, Dinah doesn’t shrug, but mumbles “fine”, looking past her and out the window, Helena fighting the urge to fidget as she tries to catch her eye.

“You don’t seem okay”, she carefully says, she doesn’t want to be annoying, but she also worries; clearly, she has failed though, as now Dinah does look at her, and frowns, voice sharper than Helena has it ever heard directed at her when she replies.

“I said I’m fine”, she snaps, and Helena blinks, feeling bad now for having messed up after all; not quite sure what to do, she decides that giving Dinah some space and quiet might be a good idea, and so she just says “okay” as she gets up again and makes her way to the kitchen, starting to prepare her coffee there, listening for any sound from the living room, perhaps Dinah calling her back or coming to join her, but there is no noise at all, and she feels insecure and worried, not having an idea how to make this better.

She finishes with the coffee machine, and finds herself with nothing to do until the coffee is done; normally, she would have gone for a shower, but she feels like this isn’t a good idea, Dinah might change her mind and come talk to her, and she wants to be there when that happens and not stuck beneath running water.

Still unsure what to do, Helena stands and watches the coffee drip into the pot; and as she does so, she thinks back to a few nights ago, when she has woken from a particularly vivid and bad nightmare, and Dinah has woken, too, and has made sure to help her through it.

_ “Here”, Dinah says as she returns from a brief trip to the kitchen, carrying a mug of steaming hot tea, “chamomile tea with honey. My mom always made this for me whenever I had bad dreams, or was sick, or just felt down. Try it?” _

This seems like it’s worth a try to Helena, and so she starts rummaging through cupboards, until she finds the chamomile tea; she quickly gets to work, heating water and placing a teabag in a large mug, her coffee forgotten as she is fully focused on preparing the tea.

She adds honey, a generous two spoonfuls, then takes careful hold of the mug and, not wanting to spill, slowly makes her way to the living room; Dinah is still on the couch, it doesn’t look as if she has moved at all, even though she does glance Helena’s way when the assassin approaches, clearing her throat as she stops at the couch.

“So, um”, she says, now feeling awkward again, glad that she has the mug to hold on to, even though she’ll hand that over to Dinah in a minute, if Dinah lets her, “I remembered you said your mom used to make you this tea when you felt bad. And you said you’re okay but you don’t… seem okay, so I figured I’d try making you that tea, too. So… here.”

She holds the mug out to Dinah, for a few seconds worried the singer won’t even take it; then, Dinah does move, and takes the cup, and takes a careful sip of it - and then she bursts into tears, and Helena goes wide-eyed, this is the exact opposite of what she has been trying to accomplish.

“Oh shit, oh no”, Helena frets, now nervously running both hands through her hair as she has no idea how to deal with this, “Dinah I’m sorry I--”

“No”, Dinah interrupts her, wiping at her eyes with her free hand, but the flow of tears is already lessening again, “it’s alright, you did nothing wrong. I just…”

She trails off and, after a moment, pats the couch, and Helena obediently sits at once; she still wants to fidget, but forces herself to sit still, she doesn’t want to give Dinah the impression she is impatient or annoyed while Dinah sorts her thoughts.

“I just feel… down, sometimes”, Dinah does continue after a minute has ticked by, focusing on the mug in her hand now, “just a bit… off. I can’t even tell you what triggers it, it just… happens. Sometimes.”

Helena just nods at that, she knows Dinah and she both have enough baggage for a dozen people, even though so far, Dinah has been the one to show it much less; she figures it’s normal to have such days though, with what Dinah has been through in her life, and where her own issues show through rage and violence, clearly Dinah’s manifest in other ways, in this quiet sadness which makes Helena’s heart hurt. 

“I get that”, she says after a moment, Dinah giving her a wry smile and taking a sip of the tea, “is there anything I can do to help?”

“Well, the tea helps”, Dinah tells her, making Helena smile slightly as well; when Dinah smiles back at her, it looks a bit more genuine than the previous smile, and after another moment, she stretches out her legs, so that her feet end up in Helena’s lap, a stark contrast to how she has drawn back from her earlier.

Helena places her hands on Dinah’s feet, glancing at her to make sure the touch is okay and, once Dinah has given a brief nod, starts rubbing her feet; she knows Dinah likes this, likes it on a good day, and she likes it now on this darker day too, a small sigh coming from her as she relaxes at the assassin’s touch.

They sit in silence after that, Dinah drinking her tea while Helena rubs her feet, but it’s a good silence now, it’s not uncomfortable and it’s not bothering either of them, and as Helena glances at Dinah every now and then, she can tell that she’s starting to feel better.

She’s glad she’s been able to help, and as their eyes meet and Dinah smiles at her, she can tell Dinah feels the same, and that only makes her happier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a prompt of your own? Let me know :D


	39. Sniffles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this tumblr prompt: Dinah gets the flu and Helena struggles to take care of her. Or, if you prefer, the opposite: Helena gets sick and is surprisingly a big baby about it.   
> I went with Helena getting sick (for now xD), but perhaps, a sequel where Dinah is the unlucky one might be added at some point XD Enjoy :D

Dinah just needs to take one look at Helena when the assassin enters their headquarters to be able to tell that Helena is far from healthy.

She blinks, part of her has been somewhat sure that Helena is physically incapable of getting sick, with how fit and strong she is; her eyes are glassy though and her nose is reddened, showing that she has blown it quite a few times already, her voice is hoarse when she greets Renee and Dinah, and she coughs afterwards, Renee immediately backing up at the sound and the sight.

“No, no, no”, she says, shaking her head, while Dinah looks worried now, “no way Crossbow, what are you doing here? Get home and into bed. You’re sick.”

“I’m not sick”, Helena declares at once, only to contradict herself with another harsh cough afterwards, “I don’t get sick. Ever.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s right”, Dinah comments, stepping closer to her and placing one hand on her forehead, frowning a moment later, “you got a fever, too, you’re definitely sick. Renee’s right, babe, you should be home and in bed, not here.”

“I’m fine”, Helena insists, stepping back from Dinah’s hand, one of the rare occasions where she avoids the singer’s touch, “I’m telling you, I don’t get sick.”

Dinah just rolls her eyes in response, she knows Helena can be stubborn, and clearly, she has one of her stubborn moments now; she can be just as hard-headed as the assassin though, and so, she gives her a strict look and takes hold of her arm, Helena grimacing when she speaks up again, her tone telling the taller woman that it won’t help to argue back.

“You got sick this time”, Dinah tells her, “and I’m taking you home now. To my home, so I can keep an eye on you. Sorry, Renee.”

“No worries”, Renee says with a wave of her hand, “get her home and make sure she stays in bed.”

“I’m fiiine”, Helena tries one last time, only to let out an impressively loud sneeze right afterwards; Renee shakes her head, and Dinah just raises an eyebrow, Helena visibly deflating after a moment, not protesting anymore when Dinah leads the way to the exit.

“Come on”, Dinah says as they walk to her car together, “I got everything we need to treat this at home, you’ll be back on your feet in no time. But you need to take it easy for a while so that can happen.”

“I can’t believe I’m sick”, Helena grumbles as she slumps into the passenger seat, “honestly, I meant it when I said I don’t get sick. I can’t even remember the last time that happened.”

“Maybe you’re not used to Gotham weather yet”, Dinah guesses as she starts the engine, making a point of not driving too fast, the last thing she needs is Helena throwing up in her car, “I imagine it is quite a bit colder here than in Sicily.”

“Well, yeah”, Helena has to admit, frowning, “but still. I don’t get sick. This is annoying.”

“I know”, Dinah tries to make her feel better, reaching over to pat her thigh, “but I’m telling you, you’ll be good as new again soon.”

Helena just sighs and leans back into the seat, staring out the window as Dinah drives; she coughs every now and then, and once sniffles loud enough to prompt Dinah to tell her that there’s a pack of tissues in the glove compartment, Helena grumbling to herself as she finds one and blows her nose.

Thankfully, Dinah’s home isn’t far from their headquarters, and a short while later, they arrive at her apartment; Dinah tells Helena to go to the bedroom, lie down and wait for her there, Helena sighing to herself as she does as she has been told, taking a minute to change into the sleepwear she keeps at Dinah’s place before she gets into bed.

Dinah joins her in the bedroom a short while later, armed with medicine and a cup of tea; she tells her that she’ll make her some chicken soup, too, but first she should drink the tea and take the medicine, Helena grumbling again as she does so, the way she grimaces as she gulps the medicine down prompting Dinah to shake her head, slight amusement in her voice when she speaks up.

“Come on”, she says, sitting on the edge of the bed so that she can run her fingers through Helena’s hair, knowing this always calms the assassin down, “I know it’s annoying, but it’s just a cold. I’ve seen you react much less annoyed at getting shot.”

“Cause that is something I know how to handle”, Helena argues, coughing again and taking a sip of her tea before she goes on, “get out the bullet, stitch up the wound, done. And I can kick the ass of the person who shot me. I can’t kick the virus in the ass.”

“Not really, no”, Dinah says with a small laugh, glad when Helena manages a little smile of her own, “at least not with your boots. But with the medicine and tea and the soup I will make for you, and with getting some rest.”

Helena sighs, but nods, taking another sip of her tea; then, she puts the cup on the nightstand and snuggles deeper into the blanket, looking so unbelievably adorable when she does so that Dinah has to hold back a squeal.

“Aw”, she lets out instead, “right now, you look like a cute little caterpillar. Well,  _ my  _ cute little caterpillar. Come here…”

She lies down next to Helena and moves to cuddle her, hearing Helena let out a content sigh beneath the blanket; then, Helena mumbles something about Dinah catching the cold from her into the pillow, the singer smiling a bit as she squeezes her slightly, Helena groaning in dismay at Dinah’s response.

“No worries there, babe”, Dinah says, moving one hand to caress her hair again, “I don’t get sick.”

Helena just grumbles, Dinah smirking to herself before she bends over her and gently kisses the top of her head; and then, she just holds her and plays with her hair until Helena’s breathing becomes slow and even, showing that she has fallen asleep, Dinah remaining by her side as she gets the rest she needs to get better, Helena slumbering deeply and peacefully, glad that she doesn’t need to go through that all on her own. 


	40. Stoic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While taking care of an injury for Helena, Dinah learns how Helena has been taught to not show pain, and she's not happy.  
> Just a random little thing I came up with during this quiet Sunday afternoon :) Enjoy!

“Oh shit”, Dinah comments as she carefully peels Helena’s shirt away from her back, the assassin sitting perfectly still as she does so, “that guy really got you good, what the fuck did he hit you with?”

“Bicycle chain”, Helena lets her know, sounding quite calm and composed, considering the length and depth of the injury; Dinah grimaces, something Helena can see through the bathroom mirror she sits facing while Dinah is behind her, she usually takes care of her own injuries after fights like this one, but there is no way in Hell she can clean that or stitch it up, so she has asked Dinah for help, despite how hard it is for her to do so.

“Ruined my jacket, too”, Helena adds a bit ruefully, and Dinah rolls her eyes, not caring much about the jacket when Helena sits here in front of her with a wound which goes from just below her shoulder blade halfway down her back; it has stopped bleeding, at least, but Dinah can tell it has bled quite a bit before that, Helena’s shirt is crusty with dried blood and so are her pants where it has trickled down.

“We’ll get you a new jacket”, she still says, making another face at the wound, it’s not a clean cut, as expected after a hit with the sort of weapon which has caused it, “but for now, let’s focus on getting this cleaned and stitched up.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing noise, but it’s enough for Dinah; she briefly glances at her through the mirror, then finds some gauze and disinfectant in the first aid kit, making sure to thoroughly soak the gauze before she gets to work, looking up the mirror as she works, once more fascinated by the way Helena just sits there, her face perfectly neutral, not moving a muscle even as Dinah knows the disinfectant has to burn in the wound.

“You know”, she conversationally says, gaze moving back to the injury again, “I don’t think I have ever seen anyone with a pain tolerance as high as yours. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re a robot.”

She knows fairly well Helena is not a robot, has seen and heard her come apart beneath her hands and lips after all, but while Helena has shown her this side of her before, she’s clearly still in full Huntress mode now, all business and no feelings, and even though they have known each other for a while now and have been dating for quite some time, too, Dinah still finds this oddly fascinating.

“I learned that”, Helena lets her know as Dinah keeps cleaning the wound, making sure to do a thorough job, and the assassin’s voice is as calm as her facial expression, “in Sicily.”

That doesn’t surprise Dinah, Helena has revealed a few bits and pieces about her time there as they have been growing closer; they all know the general story, but Dinah is the only one who knows some details at this point, and this is another one of those small crumbs, and Dinah knows well how much it means that Helena is telling her this.

She knows Helena at this point, and so, she says nothing, even though she isn’t sure she actually wants to know how exactly Helena has learned this; the assassin wouldn’t have said anything though if she didn’t want to reveal more, and so, Dinah gives her the time she knows she needs, continuing her work on the wound in silence as Helena sorts her thoughts.

“Something could have gone wrong”, Helena finally does speak up again, and it has taken her long enough that Dinah has finished with the cleaning and moves on to stitching, but once again, Helena shows no reaction to what the singer is doing, “I could have gotten captured, while I worked through my list. So they made sure I’d know how to withstand pain, in case…”

“In case you got tortured?” Dinah wants to know, now not able to keep quiet anymore, raising her eyebrows; Helena gives a brief nod, and Dinah has to fight the urge to shake her head, they have had such talks a few times before in their relationship and she knows Helena tends to clam up again when she gets the feeling Dinah feels contempt for what she is telling her, even if said contempt isn’t aimed at her, but at the men who have taken her in and trained her.

“They taught me while teaching me how to fight”, Helena goes on after a few moments, and Dinah once again has to struggle to not let her emotions at hearing this show through her face; she knows how young Helena has been when she has started said training, and now she imagines a grown man landing a hit as he teaches her how to defend herself, and yelling at her when she shows pain or maybe even cries, her heart clenching up with sympathy for the child she never has known.

“I got quite good at it”, Helena goes on, distracting Dinah from her thoughts, and she lets out a vaguely agreeing noise, certainly Helena is good at it, considering she looks perfectly relaxed as Dinah stitches up her wound, and Dinah knows from experience how much it hurts to get stitches, “even Luca said so, when I broke my ribs during training and barely flinched, and he was stingy with praise.”

“How old were you?” Dinah wants to know, and if Helena notes of the sudden rough tone of her voice, she doesn’t show it in any way; she just shrugs, which earns her a strict look through the mirror, Dinah is still stitching after all, and the movement makes doing so difficult, even though the singer’s hands still when Helena answers her question.

“Fifteen”, she says, and hears Dinah pull in a slow, controlled breath, a clear sign that she is not happy with what she just has heard; she wants to turn and look at Dinah, but can feel her still stitching, so she doesn’t, looking at the mirror instead, uneasy when she sees that Dinah looks somewhat upset.

“I’m sorry”, Dinah says after a moment, angry eyes coming up to meet Helena’s through the mirror, and the assassin swallows, knowing she won’t like what Dinah will say next, “I know you think highly of these men, and I know what they did for you, but that is fucked up, that is so fucked up I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“I know”, Helena quietly says, and Dinah stills again, as this is the last thing she has expected the assassin to say; so far, Helena has never even given a hint that she knows how fucked up exactly her growing up has been, and Dinah finds herself wondering why she would do so now, but then, she figures that the why doesn’t matter, it’s a good thing Helena admits that to her, she knows, just another sign that they are growing closer and that Helena is opening up to her.

“I know it’s fucked up”, Helena goes on, “no other way to call it, praising a fifteen year old for being stoic at broken bones. They meant well, they were all I had, and they taught me well, but that doesn’t make it any less fucked up.”

“Well”, Dinah says after having needed a minute to process all this, time she has used to finish the stitches, and keeping her gaze focused on the assassin’s back as she covers the wound with a bandage, “can’t argue with them training you well, because they did, and we both know that. But…”

She pauses and takes another moment to finish with taping fresh gauze over the wound, then moves so that she is facing Helena now, kneeling down in front of her and grasping her hands; she’s glad when Helena gives her a little smile at the gesture, and doesn’t pull back, another sign for their growing closeness and for how she is growing more and more comfortable around her.

“But you don’t have to be stoic hard Huntress around me”, she tells her, taking note of how Helena swallows heavily, “I want you to know that. You can show it when something hurts, it won’t make me think less of you.”

“I know”, Helena says again, with a weak smile, Dinah smiling back at her this time, “it’s just… hard. After all this time.”

“No pressure”, Dinah reassures her, then moves to kiss her, Helena letting go of her hands with one of her own to wrap her arm around her and pull her closer; mindful of her injury, Dinah doesn’t return the embrace, but cups her jaw instead, the kiss quickly deepening as she ends up in the taller woman’s lap.

“Thank you”, Helena mumbles after the kiss, and for a moment, Dinah is confused, not sure what Helena is thanking her for, then the assassin goes on and clarifies, “for understanding. And for being so patient with my weird, issue-laden ass.”

“It is a very fine ass”, Dinah thoughtfully says, and while someone else might have found this comment inappropriate, especially for this moment, it has the effect on Helena she has been hoping for - Helena snorts a brief laugh, and shakes her head, then pulls her in for another kiss, one Dinah is more than happy to return.

It will take time, she knows, and patience, but Helena is opening up to her, and she knows how good and important this is, and cherishes it, revels in the feeling of Helena’s lips on hers as all is well between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I wrote this, I wonder how Dinah would react, should she ever meet the assassin dads... xD


	41. Angered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise visit brings up some rage.   
> A follow up to yesterday's one-shot. There might be a third part too cause I'm hopeless, lol.

On any other day, Helena makes sure to take the stairs up to her apartment, claiming it helps her to stay fit, as if her insane workout schedule isn’t enough for that; that night though, Dinah practically pushes her into the elevator, and is already kissing her before the doors even have closed, hands exploring Helena’s body while her tongue explores the assassin’s mouth.

She blames the adrenaline and the successful fight for her lust, the fight hasn’t been hard or long, but her blood is up; and from how Helena grabs her butt and pulls her closer, it’s easy to tell she feels the same.

“Wait”, Dinah mumbles against Helena’s mouth, a bit amused when the taller woman lets out a whine at the loss of contact as Dinah pulls back a bit, “wait, babe, just a sec, we… didn’t push the button.”

Helena pauses, then one of her hands leaves Dinah’s behind, to do what they both have forgotten in their heat of passion; they stare at each other as the elevator starts moving, then Helena is the first to snicker, Dinah laughing as well a second later.

“We can’t tell that to anybody, ever”, Dinah says, Helena shaking her head at once, “they’d never let us live that one down.”

“Not in a hundred years”, Helena solemnly agrees, “so that’s gonna be our little secret.”

Dinah grins and nods, then pulls her in for another kiss, a slower and gentler one this time; and somehow, she manages to notice how the elevator stops and the doors open, prompting her to pull back from the kiss and take Helena’s hand, the two of them making their way to her apartment door as fast as it is possible without actually running.

While Helena pulls her keys from her pocket and unlocks the door, Dinah moves to embrace her from behind, the way she presses up against her making Helena groan and almost causes her to turn the key too harshly; luckily, she doesn’t break it off in the lock though, the door swinging open at last, and Dinah immediately pushes her into the apartment.

“Bedroom”, she pants as she kicks the door close, Helena letting out a vaguely agreeing noise; Dinah is still behind her, so she leads the way, and she doesn’t see the hit coming the slightest, the masked man suddenly stepping around the corner and smacking her in the face, hard enough that her head snaps back and that blood sprays from her nose.

Her instincts kick in while she still hears Dinah gasp behind her, and she blocks the next hit, undeterred by her aching face and the blood she can now feel and taste on her lips; she retaliates with a smack of her own, hitting the guy in the stomach and, as he doubles over in pain, grabbing his arm for a shoulder throw, from the corner of her eye seeing another one move in.

Dinah has recovered fast from her shock too though, and moves to intercept the other attacker; he either hasn’t noticed her or hasn’t seen her as a threat, and he pays for that as she immediately lands a high kick against his chest, chasing after him when he stumbles back and following up with a low swipe against his legs, a low grunt coming from him when he hits the ground.

Snarling, Helena bends to her fallen opponent to yank the mask off his head, and freezes, as the face grinning back at her is the last she has expected to see; Dinah is ready to kick the man on the ground again, but stops when she sees Helena’s reaction, the guy she has kicked sitting up and rubbing his chest with one hand while he pulls his mask off with the other.

“You know these guys?” Dinah wants to know, ready to strike again any second just in case these are people who want to do Helena harm; the one she has kicked grunts as he comes to his feet, glaring at her, but she easily holds his angry gaze, making it obvious to him she won’t back off.

“Damn right she knows us”, the one Helena has taken down says as he gets up again as well, Helena still staring at him as if she is seeing a ghost, “she lived with us for fifteen years, in Sicily.”

“Dinah”, Helena does regain her wits at last, the singer looking at her, even though she can still feel the man’s baleful glare on her, “meet Sal and Massimo.”

Dinah pauses too, then, looking at the two men, one of them grinning while the other still looks angry; they don’t know her, they can’t tell, but Helena does and can, and her eyes widen, but she doesn’t have the chance to do more than that - as Dinah steps up to the one who has smacked Helena minutes ago and punches him, fast and hard, right in the face, and he stumbles back as blood sprays from his nose.

“Ow, what the fuck”, he complains, and Dinah gets even angrier; she takes note of Helena looking concerned, but the assassin makes no move to stop her, and so she follows up, clenching her fists as she glares at the man.

“Ow?!” she repeats, Helena giving the other guy a warning look when it appears as if he wants to intervene, “ _ ow?!  _ You’re the fucker who  _ praised  _ her when she didn’t flinch at broken bones and now you dare say  _ ow _ ?! How dare you, show up here and fucking attack her!”

“Helena”, the guy Dinah has taken down grumbles, still rubbing his chest, “get your friend under control.”

“She’s not my friend”, Helena corrects him, and he raises his brows, understanding dawning in his eyes though when she goes on, “she’s my girlfriend. And she does have a point, you couldn’t just say Hi like a normal person, Sal? You have to hit me in the face?”   


“You’d let your guard down”, Sal reprimands her in response, and Dinah looks like she wants to punch him again, “I couldn’t have hit you if you hadn’t, that one’s all on you.”

“No no no no no”, Dinah snaps, and he looks at her with raised brows, apparently not having expected her to argue, “you do  _ not _ get to do that. You don’t come here, break into her fucking home, hit her and then tell her it’s on her! What is wrong with you?!”

“She’s not supposed to let her guard down”, Massimo grumbles, shuts up quickly though when Dinah’s glare moves to him, and for a moment, Helena wonders if she should step in after all, Dinah looks as if she might canary cry the man’s head off any second, just one more wrong word from him and she’ll have to invest in new windows.

“It’s her fucking  _ home _ ”, she snaps at him, and thankfully, he keeps his mouth shut, “no wonder she’s always on edge, if that is what you taught her, Jesus fucking Christ! Get out!”

“You just gonna let her talk to us like that?” Sal wants to know, raising an eyebrow at Helena; she just flatly stares back at him, her nose has stopped bleeding but it still throbs, and part of her wonders if it’s broken as she shrugs.

“She does have a point”, she says, both men frowning now, “maybe you guys should go for now. We can catch up another day. After actually settling a time and meeting point, and not after you ambush me in my home.”

She halfway expects them to protest, to tell her that this is not what she has been taught; instead, Massimo lets out a vaguely agreeing grunt, then turns and leaves without another word, Sal following him a second later, Dinah glaring at their backs until they are out the door and out of sight.

“Shit”, the singer then says, her glare immediately vanishing when she turns to look at Helena again, “that is fucked up. Come on, let me take a look at your poor nose.”

She steps closer to Helena and carefully inspects her nose, touching it to find out if it’s broken; Helena winces a bit at the contact, doesn’t flinch back though, glad when Dinah lets her know it doesn’t seem to be broken, the fact that it’s not bleeding anymore supporting that idea.

“You know”, Helena says as Dinah leads her to the kitchen so she can wash her face while the singer gets an icepack for her, “that was awesome. The way you yelled at them, for me. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you’re not mad I did that”, Dinah admits, moving to carefully place the icepack and prompting Helena to pull in a sharp breath at the cold, “I wouldn’t have apologized, just so you know, because they deserved it, but I’m still glad.”

Helena smiles at her in response, wordlessly reassuring her she’s not mad, lowering the icepack so she can pull Dinah in for a kiss; she doesn’t quite find the words to tell her she’d never be mad, not when Dinah stands up for her like this and confronts the men who have made her who she is, but she hopes Dinah can feel this through her kiss and knows, even if she doesn’t have the words.

And judging from how Dinah hugs her and holds her close even once the kiss has ended, Helena is fairly certain she does know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Assassin dads, you better not piss off Dinah again. x)


	42. Perfect Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being asked what her perfect date is has quite the unexpected outcome for Helena (and Dinah).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I love putting poor Crossbow Canary through all the angst and hurt/comfort, I decided to give them some pure fluff now. Enjoy :D

It feels weird for Helena to just sit and have a drink and not be on guard, but she tells herself she is slowly getting used to it; the Birds of Prey have been working together for a few weeks now, and are still figuring out each other when they are not fighting, and it’s still not easy for her to relax around them, even though she knows they are her teammates and friends.

Tonight, it’s not just the three of them, but Harley is there too, having helped taking down a bad guy who’d been using people Cassandra’s age as drug runners, and apparently, Harley has strongly disagreed with this; and while Helena appreciates the help, and knows Harley is good at fighting, the woman makes her uneasy, she’s unpredictable and she sometimes looks at her oddly and asks her weird questions, all things which Helena isn’t very fond of.

“Uh, I know”, Harley distracts her from her ponderings, clapping her hands, and Helena wonders what the woman knows, her unasked question answered a moment later, “we should play truth or dare! It’s like team building. So you guys get to know each other better.”

“You want to order pizza too?” Dinah asks, raising her eyebrows, “and make Cosmos?”

Helena smiles a bit at that, she remembers that Harley has talked about this exact thing back at the amusement park, before Dinah has told her to focus; and shortly after that, Helena remembers, she has yelled at Dinah, something she still feels bad for, even though the singer clearly hasn’t minded back then and still doesn’t seem to mind whenever her rage makes an appearance.

“We got beer, so no need for Cosmos”, Harley points out, raising her bottle for emphasis, “but I actually wouldn’t say No to pizza. I’m sure Crossbow here knows the best pizza places in Gotham.”

“Huntress”, Helena corrects her with a small sigh, Harley keeps calling her Crossbow and by now, Renee is doing so too, but she’s not ready to give up on getting her name out there yet, unperturbed when Harley just grins in response.

“Okay,  _ Huntress _ ”, she then says, and Helena holds back a groan as she realizes she’s walked right into that one, “thanks for volunteering. Truth or dare?”

“...truth”, Helena decides after a moment, figuring that just going with it will be easier than starting a debate with Harley, and at least, if she goes with truth, the woman can’t ask her to kiss her or something; she expects some sort of question related to such activities, or perhaps the inquiry if she ever actually has kissed anyone before, so when Harley does ask her question, it catches her off-guard quite a bit, as it makes no sense at all to her.

“What’s your perfect date?” Harley wants to know, resting her chin on her hands and looking at her with wide eyes and a wide smile; Helena notices how Dinah rolls her eyes, clearly she thinks the question is stupid too, and that makes her feel a bit better about it, even though she still feels weird when she shrugs in response.

“I don’t know”, she says, and Harley pouts, only to go wide-eyed again when Helena continues, “probably the day I killed Zsasz. You know, finished my list, met you guys.”

“Oh my God”, Harley lets out, and Helena blinks at her scandalized tone, wondering if this has been such a wrong thing to say, “oh shit! Guys! She has no idea!”

“...what?” Helena dares to ask, but Renee is just staring at her as if she has grown a second head and Dinah has raised her eyebrows, so apparently, no help is coming from that front, “no idea about what?”

“Dates”, Harley unhelpfully says, and Helena frowns, she  _ has _ revealed her favourite date after all, “dating. You know? Maybe I should show--”

“No!” Dinah interrupts, and that only confuses Helena further, because Harley pouts again, Dinah giving her a strict look as she goes on, “drop it, Harley. Helena. Your turn. Pick someone for truth or dare.”

“Oh, um, okay”, Helena manages, still quite confused; she picks Renee and asks her to do a handstand when the former cop chooses dare, and that nearly ends badly, but even as the game goes on, Helena notes how Dinah keeps glancing at her, and finds herself wondering why that is and if she will find out soon why reactions to her answer have been so strange.

* * *

Quite a while later, Harley has headed to whichever weird place she currently is calling home, and Renee has headed off to get some sleep too; and so, it’s just Dinah and Helena left, both of them still having half finished drinks, Helena on the couch with her feet up on the table and Dinah in a comfortable armchair, the singer still looking at Helena oddly every now and then, until the assassin can’t hold back anymore and lets out an audible sigh.

“Okay”, she then says, when Dinah has the grace to look a bit sheepish at being caught like this, “what was the weird thing I said tonight which you can’t stop pondering? It was the date thing, wasn’t it.”

“Yeah”, Dinah admits at once, Helena frowning as she still isn’t quite sure why that is so weird, “were you serious? Or were you messing with Harley?”

“Of course I was serious”, Helena says at once, indignant, “that was one of the best days of my life. I took down Zsasz, and I met you… you guys.”

“Well yeah”, Dinah has to agree, having noticed how Helena has corrected herself in the last moment there, but deciding not to point it out, figuring Helena will feel awkward enough in about thirty seconds without that, “but… that is not what she meant.”

“Okay?” Helena half states, half asks, raising her eyebrows and looking so adorably clueless that Dinah can’t doubt for a second she is serious; she finds it a bit hard to believe still, but then, Helena  _ has _ grown up among assassins who have taught her all about fighting and killing and assassinations, but not much about anything else, so perhaps, this shouldn’t be so surprising.

“She meant going out”, Dinah decides to explain, even if perhaps she risks Helena laughing at her and telling her that she  _ had _ been messing with Harley and now she’s gotten her too, but then, this doesn’t seem like a very Helena thing to do, “like… you know, romantically? People who know each other, they go on dates. Wait, gimme a sec…”

She pulls out her phone, Helena watching in silence how she starts typing, not quite sure where this is going; and when Dinah turns the screen, she can see that she has opened a video on YouTube, titled Ideal First Dates, the assassin raising her brows as it starts to play, showing suggestions for romantic things people could do for their first date.

“Huh”, she lets out once the video has ended, thankfully it hasn’t been very long, the suggestions have been short and on the point, “okay. Good to know. Why does Harley want to know that about me?”

“It’s Harley”, Dinah replies, shrugging as she tucks her phone away again, “who knows why she does or wants things, half the time, I bet she doesn’t even know herself.”

Helena nods at that, she can’t really argue with that; she frowns to herself as she ponders what Dinah has said, about how people who like each other go on dates, none of the things in the video seem like something she would enjoy, except maybe perhaps a nice dinner, but she’s never seen the appeal of walking around aimlessly or of sitting in the grass to eat, well aware of bugs and of how being out in the open like that makes it easy for someone to attack.

“So”, she says, looking at Dinah again, “these are things people who like each other do?”

“Yeah, among other things”, Dinah tells her, giving her a smile, not minding to be the one to teach her about these things, it makes her feel a little bit special, “two people who want to go on a date, they can just figure out what they want to do. People like us, we’d probably go to a boxing match or something.”

“Okay”, Helena says, then clears her throat, not looking away though, showing Dinah she means every word she says as she goes on, “I want to go on a date with you then. We can go to a boxing match if you want.”

Dinah can only stare at her, she hasn’t been quite sure where this is going, but while part of her has been hoping for this, she hasn’t dared to expect it; she blinks, not quite sure what to say, and Helena starts looking a bit nervous now, taking her prolonged silence as negative, clearing her throat again and even fidgeting nervously.

“If you want”, she repeats, her cheeks colouring a bit, “um, if not, that’s okay too, but you did say people who like each other and I like you so--”

Dinah interrupts her by leaning in and kissing her, Helena falling silent at once; she’s surprised for a moment, then regains enough of her wits to kiss Dinah back, one of her hands coming up to cup the singer’s jaw as they keep kissing, a movement she doesn’t have to think about, but one which just happens.

“Okay”, Dinah mumbles once she pulls back again, smiling again, Helena finding herself grinning like a fool as well, “usually, this is done during or after the date, not before. But can’t say that I mind.”

“I guess we  _ have  _ to go on a date then now”, Helena says, her deadpan tone making Dinah laugh while she nods; Helena smirks a bit, then is the one to lean in now for another kiss, her heart skipping an excited beat when Dinah kisses her back.

She’s still not quite sure what her perfect date is, but she figures that with Dinah, any sort of date will be perfect, no matter what. 


	43. Mistletoe Appreciation Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena learns about mistletoe and is determined to put that new knowledge to good use.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is celebrated on the 24th here where I am, so... Merry Christmas :D

“I will never understand how this is possible”, Dinah announces as she pulls a string of coloured lights from the box Renee is holding, frowning at the knots and tangles, “I swear to God, I roll them up nicely when I take them down, don’t touch that box all year long, and when I do pull them out again, they are messed up like this.”

“It’s a law of nature”, Renee solemnly comments, Dinah rolling her eyes as she nods; from her spot on the couch, Helena is watching them while sharpening her knives, perhaps not a very festive thing to do, she figures, but it’s something she does at least once a week, she has chosen tonight to do it, and she’s not gonna stop until she is done, she hates it to leave a task unfinished.

Dinah keeps grumbling to herself as she starts putting up the lights, Helena watching her every move; she knows of course why Dinah is putting up these bright, colourful lights, but it’s the first time she actually sees that sort of Christmas decoration outside of movies and TV shows, her family has celebrated Christmas, but it has been a somber, serious affair, now bright lights anywhere, and after the massacre, Christmas has stopped being a thing, her adoptive dads haven’t been big on that sort of stuff and she wouldn’t have been in the mood to celebrate anyway.

Her brow furrows when Dinah leans forward on the ladder quite far, the ladder doesn’t look all too stable as it is and she really doesn’t want the singer to fall off; whenever Dinah gets injured during their nightly fights with the various gangs of Gotham, Helena goes into what Dinah and Renee call Huntress Rage Mode, and takes down whoever has dared to hurt the singer, but she hardly can shoot the ladder with her crossbow.

Well, she supposes she could, but it wouldn’t help much, it would only ruin the ladder, and it’s the only one they have, so she figures Dinah wouldn’t be happy if she “killed” it.

They have been working together as the Birds of Prey for a while at this point, and as time has gone by, Helena has noticed that she is quite a bit more protective of Dinah than she is of Renee, and making sure that Dinah is happy has become one of her top priorities; thankfully, she has thought to herself at first when she has realized that her feelings for Dinah are changing, from friendship to something more, she is good at keeping such thoughts and feelings hidden, worried that this might ruin the friendship and thus, the team.

So, Helena has kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, but apparently she hasn’t been all too subtle, as Harley has taken her aside one night, after a long and hard fight during which she has gone into rage mode for Dinah again, and has told her to do something about these feelings, reassuring her they are not one-sided; she’s not quite sure this is true though, she does catch Dinah looking at her every now and then, but she tells herself this doesn’t mean much, she might just be looking because she likes whatever Helena is wearing that day.

The door opening distracts her from her ponderings, Cass strolling into their base as if she owns the place; she drops by whenever she feels like it, and clearly, today is one of those days, the teenager waving Hi to Dinah and Renee before she drops down onto the couch next to Helena and throws her backpack onto the ground, moving to put her feet up on the table, leaving them where they are though at the look Helena shoots her.

“I fucking hate mistletoe”, Cass announces, and Helena blinks, not quite sure where this is coming from; she’s also not sure she really wants to know, but she cares for Cass and wants her to know she cares, so she figures it’d be wise to ask.

“Why”, she thus asks, Cass rolling her eyes before she tells her, but the answer only confuses Helena further.

“Cause that gross guy Joey put one up at the classroom door”, she says, “and then just waited there for girls to walk by. Luckily, Miss Inglewood caught him and took it down.”

Helena just blinks again as Cass looks at her, waiting for her response, the assassin trying to figure out why anyone would wait beneath a mistletoe for girls to walk past; seconds tick by, and finally, Cass seems to realize why Helena is quiet, her eyes going almost comically wide.

“Oh my God!” she lets out, and Helena is glad that Dinah and Renee are very busy with putting up the festive lights and are not listening, “you have no idea, oh my God!”

“Shhh”, Helena shushes her, feeling her cheeks heat up, her standard reaction whenever she is very unaware of something everyone else just seems to know, be it some social thing or some pop culture trivia, “and no, I don’t, what are you talking about?”

“It’s a whole thing”, Cass explains, getting over her shock quickly, “you put the mistletoe onto the doorframe or the fireplace or something, some place where you’ll get to meet someone beneath it. And when you end up beneath it with another person, that person and you have to kiss.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, and almost asks why, that still doesn’t make much sense, but then decides against it - she figures Cassandra probably doesn’t know why, it’s probably some weird American thing, like many other weird American things she has been introduced to since her return to Gotham.

“On the mouth?” she asks after another moment, and Cass nods; and a second later, she grins as Helena’s gaze flickers to Dinah, then returns to her, the assassin blushing again at the look on Cass’ face.

“You guys got the lights going”, the teenager then says, grin widening, “you need some mistletoe, too. You know, for the whole flair of it. I know where you can get some.”

“Right”, Helena says, mind already racing - this is perfect, she tells herself, she can just try to get Dinah beneath the mistletoe, and then kiss her, and see how she reacts to the kiss, if it goes well, she will know that Harley has been right and that her feelings are not one-sided, and if it doesn’t go well, she can laugh it off and blame it on the mistletoe thing.

Either way, Helena figures she will know afterwards, perfectly unaware that Dinah has been paying closer attention to what Cass and Helena have been saying and is smirking to herself now, very aware of what is going on.

* * *

Helena has some mistletoe, and now she wonders where she should put it.

Her first thought has been the doorway to the kitchen, but they all go there a lot during the day, and while she likes Renee and Harley, she doesn’t want to kiss them; she’s fairly certain Renee will agree about not wanting to kiss her, but she’s not sure about Harley, the woman has made a bunch of comments about how she’d climb her like a tree if she didn’t know Dinah was into her, and while Helena isn’t so certain that Dinah is into her, she doesn’t doubt that Harley  _ will _ climb her if she catches her underneath the mistletoe. 

She considers the bathroom next, but then decides against that as well, not wanting to stand in the way in case Dinah has to use the toilet, that wouldn’t be a good moment for a kiss; her next idea is Dinah’s bedroom, but she doesn’t want to lurk around outside it, that would be weird and a bit creepy maybe, and she doesn’t want to appear like that to Dinah.

Her own room, Helena finally decides, Renee hardly ever goes there, so it lessens the chance of the cop ending up beneath the mistletoe with her, and she’s pretty sure Harley doesn’t even know that this door leads to her room, the woman never has been in there; and she figures she can find some excuse to ask Dinah to come there, determined now as she has a plan, small as it may be.

* * *

“Okay”, Helena says as she stretches, glad that she is tall enough to reach the doorframe without having to use the ladder, not quite trusting it still, “here, that’s the middle. Tape?”

“It doesn’t have to perfectly centered”, Cass points out as she holds a strip of tape out to Helena, “I doubt Dinah will refuse in case it’s an inch to the left or the right.”

“I want this to be proper”, Helena tells her, not really surprising her, the assassin does tend towards perfectionism, even when it comes to simple things like where to put up a mistletoe, “so, it’s gotta be in the middle.”

“If you say so”, Cass diplomatically replies, watching how Helena tapes the mistletoe to her doorframe; then, the assassin takes a step back and gives it a critical look, nodding after a moment, satisfied with how it looks up there, right in the middle and pretty much impossible to miss against the white doorframe.

“Alright”, she then says, “now I just need to get Dinah to come here.”

“Go for it right now”, Cass advises, smirking at how nervous Helena looks immediately, “don’t sweat it, it’s gonna work out, I’m telling you. Come on! Do it.”

Helena takes a moment for a deep breath, then nods in determination, telling herself she can do this; she has hunted down the men who’d killed her family, after all, has gone up against them all on her own and has come out not only alive, but as the winner, so certainly, she can do this, too.

Cassandra is already halfway down the hall, and Helena follows her, steeling herself; Dinah, Renee and Harley are sitting in what Dinah always calls the “lounge area” of their base, Harley entertaining the two with some wild story, even though Dinah immediately looks at Helena when the assassin walks up to them.

“Hey”, the singer smiles, raising her eyebrows when Helena replies with a “hey” of her own and sounds decidedly higher pitched than usual; Helena clears her throat, then tries again, glad that her voice has returned to its normal tone when she speaks up again.

“Hey”, she repeats, ignoring how Harley is grinning at her vocal troubles, “um… can you come with me for a moment? I wanna… show you something.”

“Yeah sure”, Dinah agrees at once, to Helena’s relief, she hasn’t quite been planning for what to say in case Dinah asks her what this is about; apparently, Dinah is willing to be surprised though, coming to her feet and walking with Helena, the assassin growing nervous again, the feeling increasing with every step she takes.

Her stomach seems to sink all the way to her feet when they reach her room and the mistletoe is gone.

_ Shit, shit shit! _ Helena’s mind races as she stares at the doorframe, and curses herself for just trusting random tape Cassandra has brought from God knows where, she should have pinned the damn thing to the door with one of her crossbow bolts; Dinah stops next to her and looks at her curiously, then up at the doorframe as this is what Helena is staring at, not seeing anything out of the ordinary up there.

“What is it”, the singer finally says, giving Helena a somewhat concerned look now, “Helena? What did you…”

Her gaze drops to the floor as she sees something green from the corner of her eye, and she pauses, then smirks; Helena looks too, but Dinah is faster, bending down and picking the mistletoe up, eyes sparkling when she straightens up again, Helena swallowing heavily, her cheeks heating up at the smirk Dinah gives her.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?” she asks innocently, and for a moment, Helena considers to lie, to claim that no, that’s not it, and to make something else up; Dinah doesn’t look put off by the idea though, she realizes another moment later, and so, she gives a terse nod, hoping that admitting this isn’t a mistake.

Dinah’s smirk widens in response, and Helena hesitatingly smiles back, wondering if Dinah will hand the mistletoe back to her and mentally still cursing the cheap tape which hasn’t done a good job at all; and then, Dinah steps closer to her, and reaches up to hold the mistletoe over the assassin’s head, grinning up at the taller woman as Helena looks at it, then back at her.

“Look where you’re standing”, Dinah says, amused when Helena’s blush deepens even though she is fairly certain this is exactly what Helena has been going for with her ruse, the woman is skilled at many things, but acting isn’t one of them, “I do believe you are aware of what you should do now…?”   


Helena gives another nod, then takes in a deep breath before she bravely leans in, her lips on Dinah’s a moment later; Dinah is quick to kiss her back, dropping the mistletoe a moment later so she can wrap both arms around her and pull her closer, smiling into the kiss when she feels Helena return the embrace at once.

Deciding to be daring, Dinah makes a careful attempt at deepening the kiss, glad when it’s very well received as Helena responds in kind at once; she wonders if Helena is aware that it doesn’t usually go like that underneath the mistletoe, but judging from the enthusiasm with which Helena is kissing her back, she figures it’s okay either way, clearly, the feelings which have been building up since they have started working together aren’t one-sided.

That assumption is confirmed very clearly when she feels one of Helena’s hands slide down her back to her butt and give quite the firm squeeze, the wolf whistle which comes up a second later making them flinch apart faster than planned.

Annoyed at the interruption, Dinah peers past Helena, raising her eyebrows when she sees Harley, Cass and even Renee at the other end of the hallway, watching, their heads poking around the corner one above the other like in some sort of cartoon; she’s pretty sure it’s Harley who has whistled, but all three are showing a shit-eating grin, so it’s difficult to tell for sure. 

“Looks like we got an audience”, she comments, Helena turning to look at them as well; her brow furrows and she glares, and the three are quick to retreat, even though Dinah and Helena can still hear Harley cackling even as they vanish from sight. 

Shaking her head, Helena turns to face Dinah again, raising her brows when she sees the singer has picked the mistletoe up again while she has been distracted; Dinah smiles back at her, and bats her eyelashes, Helena smiling again as well when the singer speaks up.

“So”, Dinah says, toying with the mistletoe, “do I have to hold this up again, or can we just make out some more without any pretense?”

Helena responds by grasping her hand and pulling her into her bedroom, a clear advantage of having asked her to come here, she realizes, as it’s not far to go now; she hears Harley cackle again as she kicks the door shut, but can’t be bothered to react much to it, too busy with kissing Dinah again, the singer contently sighing into her mouth when the kiss deepens quickly again.

Helena still isn’t quite sure why mistletoe works like this, but she’s really glad it does.


	44. New Year's Eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena and Dinah enjoy fireworks on New Year's Eve.

“So”, Dinah says as she flops down onto the couch next to Helena, the assassin briefly glancing at her before she focuses on the knife she is sharpening again, “you down to party tomorrow?”

“Huh?” Helena lets out, movements pausing again as she glances at the singer once more, belatedly realizing what day it is, and apparently, the oncoming New Year’s Eve is a big thing in America, not that this surprises her, after she has seen how Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas are celebrated here; she dimly remembers New Year’s parties from when she has been little, but if her parents have been partying wildly back then, she doesn’t remember that, only aware of fireworks with have been going off and the fact that it has been one of the few nights she has been allowed to stay up past midnight. 

“Oh, right”, she lets out before Dinah can try to explain, “New Year’s right. Yeah, I suppose. We gonna go somewhere?”

“Nah”, Dinah says at once, and Helena feels a bit relieved, figuring that the clubs and bars will be overrun that night, “I was thinking we could just hang out here, have a few drinks and snacks, that sort of thing. Harley and Cass are gonna come too.”

Helena gives another nod at that, and Dinah smiles at her, and that smile makes Helena’s stomach clench up; they have been working together as the Birds of Prey for a while, and Helena has felt these things since the beginning, but has been fairly sure it would go away on its own after a while, having told herself it is just the whole new situation of being part of a team and having friends.

It hasn’t gone away, it has only gotten worse, and by now, her stomach tingles and clenches each time Dinah smiles at her or looks at her with that warmth in her gaze or touches her, and she’s glad her assassin dads have taught her how to hide her emotions, because she doesn’t want to know what Dinah would think of her, if she knew the thoughts Helena has about her.

_ It would ruin the whole team, _ she sternly reminds herself while Dinah gets comfortable and watches her as she goes back to her task, apparently, sharpening knives is quite interesting to the singer,  _ don’t let her notice, this is just a stupid crush, it will go away soon. _

Dinah gives her another smile, and as if to directly contradict her thoughts, her stomach goes tight again and she can even feel her heart speed up, and as she smiles back at the singer, Helena asks herself how much longer it will take until this does go away.

* * *

Harley and Cass do show up to party, as Dinah has said, and Harley brings enough alcohol to put them all into a coma; she declares she has been gifted that stuff from the bodega near the place she shares with Cass, and while Helena sincerely doubts that is true, she doesn’t question it for now, not wanting to ruin the happy mood.

Since the assassin is the one with the most skill in the kitchen among them, she has been tasked with preparing the evening’s dinner, Dinah having volunteered to help though; and now, after having eaten the delicious meal Helena has made, they are relaxing at their base, drinking and talking and laughing, and even though Helena is still very aware of her crush on Dinah, she finds herself relaxed and even happy as well.

“I want to go up onto the roof”, Dinah declares as midnight inches closer, already coming to her feet, “look at the fireworks, who’s with me?”

Renee declines, claiming she has seen more than enough fireworks in her life and grumbling when Dinah calls her a grandma in response to that; Harley tells her that no firework can be as awesome as the one she has caused when she has blown up the chemical plant, and Cass declares that she’s not big on fireworks as it is.

That only leaves Helena, and while the assassin isn’t very interested in fireworks either, she feels bad at the thought of Dinah being up on the roof all on her own; and so, she agrees to come with her, and the happy bright smile Dinah gives her in response makes her heart beat faster once again.

“Awesome, I knew I could count on you”, Dinah tells her, smile widening when Helena blushes a bit in reply, “come on, let’s grab our jackets and get up there, I don’t want to miss anything.”

Helena nods her agreement, and once they have found and put on their jackets, they make their way up to the roof; there’s a minute or two left until midnight, but people are already shooting fireworks anywhere, rockets flying here and there, filling the sky with bright light and colours.

“My mom and I always used to watch the fireworks on New Year’s eve”, Dinah is the one to speak up first, after they just have been standing side by side in silence for a bit, “I sort of… stopped after she’d died, I mean, I couldn’t avoid them completely, but I wouldn’t go somewhere like this right now. I’m glad we get to share this.”

“Me too”, Helena says, Dinah giving her another smile, “my parents weren’t really into the whole fireworks things, and the guys in Sicily were even less so. New Year’s eve was a day like any other there.”

This doesn’t surprise Dinah the slightest, after what Helena has revealed about her growing up in Sicily so far; following a sudden impulse, she steps closer to Helena and grasps her hand, smiling again when she feels Helena’s fingers curl around her own. 

“You know”, Dinah says as midnight approaches and the fireworks increase, “there is something else about New Year’s eve which I’d like to do.”

Helena gives her a questioning look while down on the street, people start counting down; and just before they reach zero, Dinah mumbles “this” - before she leans in and kisses the taller woman, Helena kissing her back just as the countdown reaches zero and the fireworks increase drastically, lighting them up as they kiss up on the roof.

“Happy new year”, Dinah mumbles once they have pulled apart again, smiling as Helena looks back at her, appearing a bit dazed, clearly not having expected this; judging from how the assassin starts to grin though, it has been unexpected, but not unwelcome, the taller woman’s arms still around her, Helena looking down at them after a moment as if she hasn’t been fully aware she even has moved them.

“Very good new year”, she says, Dinah letting out a small laugh; Helena gives her another smile, then pulls her in for another kiss, a happy sigh escaping her when Dinah kisses her back at once. 

Truly a very good new year, she thinks to herself, easily the best new year she’s ever had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone :D


	45. Stranded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saw this prompt on tumblr: “Please for the love of god help you’re the only one here who speaks English” AU   
> and I had to write it, lol. Also, this one got kinda long. Enjoy! :D

It has seemed like such a good idea at the time, Dinah thinks to herself as she runs both hands through her hair, grimacing at the sweat she can feel as the hot Italian sun beats down on them, just she and her car, travelling through Europe, some sort of adventure before she has to go back to her daily life in Gotham.

It has seemed like a good idea, and it has been going well, too, but now, she’s here in Italy, and her car has died, and has managed to do so in some small village, where nobody speaks English and people just look at her in confusion when she tries to ask them for the nearest mechanic or for someone who can help her out.

Her first idea to have this fixed is to use Google translate, but as it turns out, tiny Italian villages don’t have great cell phone reception, and the page is steadfastly refusing to load; and now, Dinah feels lost and stranded as she stands here next to her car, not sure what to do, now regretting the fact that she has gone on this trip alone and hasn’t taken anyone with her.

_ Well, you can’t just remain out here in the sun _ , she tells herself, glad that at least, she has managed to steer her car to the side of the road before it has died on her,  _ you’ll get heatstroke or something. Even a village so tiny must have a bar or a restaurant or a pub. _

That is another good thing, she thinks, that her car has died on the outskirts of said village and not somewhere in the middle of nowhere; and so, Dinah starts walking, glad that at least, she has money and her phone, and perhaps, she’ll have better reception at the village, too, or maybe the cafe or pub or whatever will have a phone they will let her use.

People are eying her a bit as she walks, but she doesn’t let that bother her, figuring she has to stand out here somewhat; she tries talking to a few of those she passes, but the trend of no one here speaking English continues, and Dinah keeps feeling quite lost as she wanders the village, looking for something which might be a cafe or a store, telling herself that surely, she’ll find a place and then she’ll figure something out.

Thankfully, she does spot a place which looks like a cafe, with tables outside and old men sitting at said tables, drinking coffee; they stare at her too when she enters, but the man behind the small counter gives her a friendly smile, and even though he doesn’t speak English either, as his confused face shows when Dinah greets him, she manages to order a glass of water with some gesturing and pointing, gulping half of it down in one go, feeling a bit better once she puts the glass down again.

The man behind the counter holds the bottle up and raises his eyebrows, and refills her glass once Dinah has nodded; he retreats again before she can try to ask him about using his phone, going outside presumably to check on the guys sitting there, and Dinah pulls her own phone out again, glad when she has slightly better reception in here.

She tries Google translate again, but once again, that webpage takes forever to load; and after watching how nothing happens for almost a minute Dinah gives up and tries to google the nearest American embassy instead, figuring she might try calling them and ask for help, at least, she tells herself, someone there will speak her language.

Now that she has something to drink and is out of the sun, she figures she can wait a few minutes until the guy comes back, using that time to try googling the phone number; and as she glares at her phone for how slow it is, the door of the small cafe opens behind her and she nearly falls off her seat when she hears the woman speak behind her.

“...need to get this done as fast as possible”, she hears, turning quickly to see who is talking, “that I’m not there is no excuse to slack off, get it done, you hear me?”

“Oh my God”, Dinah says as she hops off her chair, the woman pausing and raising her eyebrows at hearing her, “you speak English!”

“I’ll call you back”, the woman says into her phone, then hangs up and pockets it before she eyes Dinah, clearly able to tell she’s not from around here; Dinah forces herself to take in a deep breath, not wanting to appear like an unhinged weirdo to the woman, and clears her throat, managing to sound a bit calmer when she goes on.

“Sorry for ambushing you like that”, she says, now getting a closer look at the woman too, and damn, she thinks to herself, she’s good looking, tall and clearly in good shape, dark eyes studying her somewhat intensely now, “but my car died just outside this village and no one here speaks English. So when I heard you…”

“Ah”, the woman lets out, looking a bit less guarded now, something Dinah is glad about, she still is somewhat lost after all and has no idea what she would have done, had the woman decided she is crazy and would have just walked off or something, “right, people here don’t really speak English.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed”, Dinah says with a little nod, then realizes she hasn’t really introduced herself yet and holds her hand out, “but you do, and I’m glad for that. Dinah Lance, nice to meet you.”

“Helena Bertinelli”, the woman says as she grasps her hand, and Dinah pauses, her eyes going wide, Helena smirking a bit, clearly picking up on her reaction and quite aware why she reacts like that.

“You’re not from  _ the _ Bertinellis, are you”, Dinah wants to know before she can stop herself, feeling even more awed when Helena gives a brief nod, “holy shit.”

“I am”, Helena confirms, amused at the way Dinah stares at her now, clearly wondering why someone from one of Gotham’s richest and most successful families is out here, in this tiny Italian village, “and you’re lucky, I suppose, that I chose this week to come here.”

“And how”, Dinah sighs, remembering her plight now that her first awe at finding a Bertinelli here is fading, “I tried to get the number for the American embassy, but reception is shitty here. Well, mine is, yours seemed to do well enough.”

Helena just shrugs, then the guy manning the bar comes back inside, and she turns to him; they speak in Italian for a while, Dinah feeling a bit lost as she watches how Helena gives the guy some cash, but neither Helena, nor the guy are sounding upset, so she figures it’s okay, nodding when Helena turns to her again after the conversation and asks her to sit with her at one of the tables nearby.

“This place has no mechanic”, Helena tells her, revealing what she has talked about to the guy, “but we can at least have your car towed to my uncle’s house, Alessandro will take care of that.”

“Thank you”, Dinah sighs, relieved that not only has she found someone who speaks English, but that this person is willing to help her out, as well, “honestly, I had no idea what to do until you walked in here. This day started shitty when my car died, but now I think it’s one of my luckier days.”

Helena smiles a bit at that, then shrugs, Dinah smiling back at her; Alessandro comes to their table with more water and, to Dinah’s delight, two little plates with sandwiches, her mouth watering and her stomach rumbling as her dismay at the whole situation lessens and she realizes how hungry she actually is.

“I figured you might want a snack”, Helena tells her, earning a thankful look from the other woman, “if you want anything else to drink than water, let me know, it’s on me.”

“Thank you”, Dinah sighs as she takes one of the sandwiches, on any other day, she would have strange, letting someone she barely knows buy her food like that, but it has been a taxing day, and she’s too relieved to be bothered by this, “I appreciate it, thanks for your help, really."

“You’re welcome”, Helena says, giving her another smile, and helping herself to a sandwich as well, “glad I can help out a bit.”

“You’re helping out a lot”, Dinah corrects her, making her shrug again, “I guess I would have figured something out, but it is easier with someone around who actually speaks English, so thanks again.”

She’s well aware how lucky exactly she has been, that Helena has shown up just when she has and has been so willing to help her out; and as the taller woman gives her another smile, she once more realizes that she’s quite easy on the eyes, as well, once more thanking her lucky star that this woman has walked in just when she has needed help.

* * *

As it turns out, Helena is willing to help her out further; once Dinah’s car has been towed to the house of Helena’s uncle, the taller woman makes a few phone calls for her, Dinah listening in awe to the rapid Italian she speaks, and amused at how she gestures with her free hand, the Bertinellis living in Gotham have been doing so for generations, but clearly, the Italian is still strong within them, judging from how Helena gestures as she talks, even if the person on the other end of the line can’t see her.

Apparently, Helena becomes aware of Dinah watching her, as she blushes a bit, but keeps talking; finally, she does end the call and tucks her phone away, a bit apologetic when she speaks up, but Dinah isn’t bothered much by what she says, just glad that things will be fine at some point soon.

“Can’t get a mechanic here today”, Helena lets her know, while Alessandro brings yet another bottle of water, “but I did manage to organize one to show up here tomorrow. I’ve spoken to my uncle too, you can use his guestroom.”

“Jesus, you’re a life saver”, Dinah sighs in response, earning another smile from the other woman, “let me make that up to you once I’m back in Gotham. Dinner or something, yeah?”

“You’re from Gotham, too?” Helena wants to know in response, appearing surprised, and Dinah realizes she hasn’t revealed that yet; she smirks and nods, and laughs at how surprised Helena looks now, clearly, she hasn’t expected them to not only be from the same country, but from the same city, as well.

“I am”, she confirms as Helena blinks, “born and raised. Which is fortunate, because that means I won’t have to travel to repay you for all your help.”

“Fortunate indeed”, Helena says, then blushes a bit, and Dinah finds herself wondering if her finding the woman easy on the eyes and quite pleasant to talk to isn’t one-sided; she gives Helena another smile in an attempt to test this theory, a slightly flirty one this time, feeling as if her suspicions are confirmed when the other woman’s blush deepens.

“Alright”, Helena says in a somewhat high-pitched tone, a stark contrast to the normal, somewhat deep sound of her voice, something else Dinah is appreciative of, then clears her throat and tries again, “I’m all done here with the calls I had to make to get this fixed, so if you want, we can head on to my uncle’s house.”

“Yeah”, Dinah agrees, figuring there is not much else to do in this place as it is, and while the sandwiches have been good, she doubts Alessandro’s expertise in the kitchen goes much further than that, “thanks again for letting me stay there, I don’t think this place has a hotel.”

“No”, Helena replies with a small laugh, a sound Dinah enjoys quite a bit and one which makes her smile again as well, “and it’s no problem, really. My uncle has a big house, there’s more than enough room.”

Dinah nods at that, grabbing her bag and rising from her seat; Helena makes a quick detour to the bar and talks to Alessandro again, and now that she doesn’t feel stranded and upset anymore, Dinah can appreciate the way the Italian sounds as it comes from the taller woman, she has no idea what Helena is saying, but it still sounds good.

_ Mom would go crazy if she was here and seeing this _ , she thinks to herself as Helena pays the man again, probably for the sandwiches and drinks,  _ going with a woman you don’t know at all, that’s how horror movies start. Or true crime reports. _

On the other hand, she feels as if she can trust Helena, and she figures that someone from a family like the Bertinellis has no need to rob random stranded travellers in tiny Italian villages; she also knows how lost she would have been without Helena showing up and helping her out, and how fast the woman has been willing to do so only makes her trust her more.

“It’s not far”, Helena distracts her from those thoughts as they leave the cafe together, “but then, nothing in this village is far from anything else.”

“I imagine”, Dinah agrees with a small laugh, making Helena smile at her again as well; they walk together, Dinah feeling relieved when they arrive at the house - which truly is quite big, probably the biggest in the village, she realizes - and her car is parked in front of it, still shooting the vehicle a baleful look as they walk past it and Helena leads the way to the front door.

“Uncle Roberto speaks a bit of English”, she tells her as she knocks, “not very much, but enough so we can make introductions and some polite small talk. Also, I’m staying here too, so you won’t have to worry about sitting in uncomfortable silence with an elder Italian.”

“Good to know”, Dinah says with another laugh, and just then, the door opens and Helena’s uncle stands there; he looks like Dinah would have imagined an elder Italian to look like, with a massive grey mustache, but not much hair on his head, and he smiles widely at both of them, stepping aside to let them enter as he greets them, gesturing towards what Dinah assumes is the living room while they take off their shoes.

“Welcome, please sit”, he says as he ushers them into the room, “Helena and friend of Helena, Dinah, right? I’m Roberto, but you can call me Bob, this is what Americans do, right?”

“Right”, Dinah agrees with a small laugh, “so, Bob, thank you for letting me stay here. Helena and you, you’re life savers.”

“No problem, no problem at all”, Bob reassures her, moving to one of the cabinets lining the wall and opening it, Helena raising her eyebrows when he pulls a dusty bottle from it, “I’m happy to have guests here. Always see the same faces in this village!”

“We’ve told you, Uncle”, Helena comments while he pours what Dinah assumes is red wine into three glasses, “you’re welcome to move to Gotham and live with us anytime. You know Dad wants you there anyway.”

“Meh”, he lets out in response, Dinah smiling at how much disdain he manages to put into that one syllable, “I don’t need to go to America to have a good life! I have all I need here. Here!”

He hands out the glasses and raises his own for a toast, Dinah amused to see Helena blushes again when he tells them they will be drinking to finding new friends; they both raise their own glass, then Dinah takes a careful sip, raising her eyebrows afterwards, she’s not exactly a wine connoisseur, but she can tell this is good, expensive stuff.

“Good Italian wine”, Bob comments upon noticing her reaction, Helena nodding her agreement, “I only get this bottle out for special occasions. Like my niece visiting, and bringing a friend.”

“I appreciate it”, Dinah reassures him, making him grin while Helena smiles a bit as well, “all of this help and friendliness, actually. Thanks again for helping me out.”

“You’re welcome”, Bob tells her at once, making Helena nod along, “I always tell Helena and my children, don’t be rude and stingy, help out when you can. Living in such a small place, you know how important it is to work together and to help each other out.”

Dinah nods to that, earning another smile from the elder man; then, he asks her what she does in the states, and she tells him she’s from Gotham as well, and that she’s been working in a bar, but that the place has closed down and so, she has taken the chance given for this trip to Europe, Bob nodding along as she talks.

“Gotham too eh”, he then says, grinning at Helena, “and you didn’t know my niece before running into her here?”

“No”, Dinah tells him with a smile of her own, Helena blushing again when she goes on, “but I’m fairly certain Helena and I aren’t moving in the same circles.”

“Right”, Bob realizes, “and Gotham is much bigger than my nice little village here. Just another reason to not go there, I’d get lost all the time!”

“You wouldn’t get lost”, Helena says with a roll of her eyes, her tone showing that this isn’t the first time they have this discussion, “and you can at least come visit. You know I love coming here, but Dad barely has time to stay home at the weekend and he wants to see you again too.”

“Shush”, Bob admonishes, wagging his finger at Helena and making Dinah laugh again, “no such discussions in front of our guest. Come on Dinah, I will show you to the guest room.”

He puts his still half full glass on the table in front of him and gets up, Dinah and Helena doing the same; leading the way, Bob takes them up to the first floor, and shows Dinah to the room, telling her that there is a bathroom right next door which is all hers, and that he has his own downstairs.

“And you?” Dinah wants to know from Helena once Bob has told her he’ll go get her suitcase from the car, not wanting to hear it when she’s tried to tell him that she can get it herself, “where are you going to sleep? He has more than one guest room?”

“Well, no”, Helena admits, Dinah raising her eyebrows again, “but I’ll use my cousin’s room, he’s not here right now anyway, so no worries. You’re not banning me to the couch or something.”

“Good”, Dinah solemnly says, making the taller woman smile a bit at her serious tone, “because I’d hate to take away your bed, after how you’ve helped me out. Seriously, I can’t say thank you enough for all your help. And I do want to take you out to dinner once we’re both back at Gotham.”

Helena nods to that, then clears her throat and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a business card and a pen; she writes something on the back of the card, then holds it out to Dinah, the other woman quickly taking it and taking a look at it, both the front and the back, curious what Helena has written on it.

**Helena Bertinelli, CFO** ,  **Bertinelli Corp.** , the front of the card proclaims, with what Dinah presumes is her business number and her business eMail; and on the back, in quite the nice handwriting, is a cell phone number, Helena clearing her throat and making Dinah look up at her again.

“That’s my private cell”, she lets Dinah know, earning a smile from her, “I have to head out early tomorrow morning and go back to the states but… once you’re back at Gotham too, text or call me…?”

“I definitely will”, Dinah tells her at once, earning another smile from the taller woman, “I’m planning to be back at Gotham in two weeks or so, so I’ll hit you up then.”

Helena nods, then wishes her a good night, Dinah wishing her the same; Bob comes back with her suitcase a minute later, and once the elder man has retreated, Dinah heads to the bathroom for a quick shower and to change into her sleepwear, smiling to herself as she washes off the day’s sweat and grime.

That day certainly has started badly, she thinks to herself, but it has taken a turn to much better, and she can’t wait to see where things will go with Helena.

* * *

**2 Weeks Later**

_ Unknown Number _ : Hi, it’s me, Dinah. The damsel in distress you rescued :D

_ Helena Bertinelli:  _ Hello Dinah. Got home safely from your trip? No more distress?

_ Dinah Lance: _ No more distress, thank God hahaha. Yeah, got back to Gotham yesterday. Would probably still be stuck in that village without you, so thanks again for that.

_ Helena Bertinelli:  _ No problem, really, glad I could help. :)

_ Dinah Lance:  _ Me too :) So, about that dinner? You free Friday evening?

_ Helena Bertinelli _ : Yes. Pick you up at seven?

_ Dinah Lance:  _ Shouldn’t I be picking you up if I’m asking you out?

_ Helena Bertinelli:  _ Not sure I trust your car enough for that ;)

_ Dinah Lance:  _ Fair point, lol. Ok, sounds good. It’s a date then :)

_ Helena Bertinelli:  _ Yeah. Looking forward to it!

_ Dinah Lance: _ Me too :)

Dinah puts her phone down and smiles, unaware that in her home, Helena is doing the same thing; she has been somewhat daring when she has declared this a date, but clearly, her bravery has paid off, and now, she truly can’t wait to see where all of this will lead.

She’s quite glad now that she’s ended up stranded in Italy on that fateful day. 


	46. Stranded: Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a follow-up to the previous chapter, Stranded. It's a fluffy date night. That's all it is. XD Pure fluff. Enjoy! :D

Dinah feels nervous as Friday evening approaches, and that is a fairly new feeling for her; it has been a while since she has gone out on a date, and while she is aware she doesn’t know Helena that well, she likes the woman, and wants this to go well. 

She’s ready already an hour before Helena has said she’d pick her up, and checks herself in the mirror again, just to be on the safe side; Helena hasn’t revealed where she will take her, but she knows the woman belongs to one of the richest and most powerful families in Gotham, so she has dressed up a little, putting on one of the fancier outfits she owns.

For a moment, she considers texting Helena to ask where they wil bel going, then decides against it though, part of her wants to be surprised about where the woman will take her; after a quick glance on her watch, Dinah then gets comfortable, realizing she still has time until Helena will arrive.

Now that she knows she looks good, and has time to think, Dinah starts feeling nervous again, a flutter in her stomach she hasn’t felt in quite a while; there’s also a brief urge for a cigarette, but she pushes that aside, telling herself it has been hard enough to quit and that she won’t put herself through this again.

Trying to keep busy, she grabs her phone and starts scrolling through her social media feeds, if only to distract herself a bit and to pass the time; the minutes until seven seem to take ages to tick by, and Dinah rolls her eyes at herself, telling herself to stop acting like a teenager with a crush, she’s a grown-up woman who will go on a date with another grown-up woman, and she tells herself to act like one.

At 6:59, there’s a knock on her door, and she practically jumps up from her couch, then stops to take in a deep breath, reminding herself once again that she is an adult; still she can’t stop herself from smiling widely when she opens the door and Helena stands there, her heart speeding up when the taller woman smiles back at her at once.

“Hey”, Dinah greets her, glad that at least, her voice comes out steady and not oddly squeaky, it wouldn’t have surprised her with how nervous she feels now that Helena is actually here, “right on time. Good to see you.”

“Likewise”, Helena tells her, and Dinah takes note of how she takes her in, clearly liking what she is seeing, and Dinah feels exactly the same; she figures Helena is in what she wears for work, a dark suit with an equally dark shirt beneath, but she makes it work, and Dinah once again thanks her lucky stars for having sent this woman to her back in Italy.

“Shall we?” Helena asks, making Dinah nod at once; she wonders if Helena feels a bit nervous as well and is just good at hiding it, but then, she realizes as she grabs her keys and steps out of the apartment, she is the CFO of an international company, and probably has to deal with things much more stressful than going out on a date.

_ Not to mention that she probably has a good poker face from all those meetings she has to sit in _ , she thinks to herself as they walk down the stairs together; for a moment, she wonders if there will be a limousine with a driver, but Helena leads the way to a not quite as flashy, smaller car, even though Dinah can still tell it hasn’t been cheap, finding herself smiling when Helena holds the passenger side door open for her.

“How chivalrous”, she comments, making the taller woman laugh, the sound causing her own smile to widen; Helena takes a moment to shrug, then closes the car door and moves to get into the driver’s seat, starting the engine while Dinah sinks into the comfortable seat.

“Man”, she says as she puts on her seatbelt, “those are some comfy seats, nice. Honest, I halfway expected you to show up with a limousine and driver.”

“Dad mostly uses the limousine”, Helena tells her, completely straight faced, and Dinah blinks, having been halfway joking when she has made her comment, “but if you want to use it one day, I’m sure he’ll me borrow it.”

“Tempting”, Dinah admits, making Helena smile a bit as she keeps her gaze on the road, Dinah once more wondering where they are going, but deciding to let the taller woman surprise her, “maybe let’s keep that in mind for the future?”

Helena smiles again at that and blushes a bit as she nods, clearly picking up on the implication that there will be more dates in the future; Dinah knows she can’t be sure this first one will go well, but she’s quite sure Helena won’t turn out to be a terrible person, figuring that she wouldn’t have helped her out back in Italy if she was, and unless the woman shows a possible unpleasant side during the date, Dinah already sees no reason why there shouldn’t be another one.

_ Slow down _ , she reprimands herself as Helena keeps driving, Dinah glancing out the window, still wondering where they are going,  _ you’re not even home from the first date yet. _

“Almost there”, Helena distracts her from those thoughts, “this might not be very creative on my part, but it is one of my favourite restaurants.”

She parks near said restaurant, and Dinah smirks a bit when she sees it’s an Italian one; Helena blushes a bit at that smirk, not killing the engine yet, but letting Dinah know instead that they can go to another place if she’s had enough Italian during her holiday. 

“No, that’s fine”, Dinah reassures her at once, Helena looking a bit relieved in response, “I love Italian, and if a Bertinelli takes me here, I’ll know it’s legit.”

“Right”, Helena says with a small laugh, making Dinah smile again as well; and now that it has been settled that they will eat here, Helena kills the engine, and they get out of the car, Dinah this time doing so before Helena has a chance to move around the car and open the door for her.

“I’ve made reservations”, Helena lets her know as they walk towards the door, “fair warning, we come here fairly often, so you might be… stared at. It’s, um, it’s been a while since I brought a date here.”

“That’s okay”, Dinah reassures her, earning another smile, “I’ll just stare back creepily until they stop.”

This earns her a snort of laughter from Helena, and she grins, glad that they are off to such a good start; Helena once more holds the door open for her, then tells the waiter greeting them that she’s reserved a table, and he nods at once, the fact that he refers to her by name as he leads them there telling Dinah that she hasn’t exaggerated when she’s said the family comes here fairly often.

They sit down, the waiter handing a menu to each of them before he takes their drink orders, then retreats; Dinah briefly raises her brows at the prices on the menu, this place isn’t exactly cheap, and she’s glad now she’s got some of her savings left even after her trip, Helena distracting her from those thoughts when she speaks up to give Dinah some recommendations.

“So tell me”, Helena says once they both have chosen dishes and the waiter has taken their orders, “any more dramatic moments during your trip, or did it all go fine?”

“Thankfully, no more drama”, Dinah tells her, making her smile, “that mechanic you found really did a good job. I’ve learned my lesson though, next time I go on a trip like that, I’ll have my car checked beforehand.”

Helena nods to that, taking a sip of her drink before she asks where else Dinah has been during her trip, before and after their chance meeting in a small Italian village; and Dinah is glad to tell her, recounting her adventures in Europe, feeling quite giddy and warm inside when she manages to make the taller woman laugh a few times.

“That sounds like an awesome trip”, Helena says once Dinah has finished her story, “man, now I wish I had done something like that after university.”

“I guess you didn’t have much time for that?” Dinah asks, something which isn’t hard to figure out - Helena appears to be close to her own age, and yet already has such a high, important position in the family company, and so, she’s not really surprised when Helena shakes her head.

“Not really, no”, Helena then says, taking another sip of her drink before she goes on, “I already started working during college, to learn the ropes, as my father put it, he didn’t want people to say I just got the job because I’m his daughter. And after I got done at university, I went to work fulltime right away.”

Dinah nods at that, the Bertinelli name is well known and she knows how big their company is; Helena gives her another smile, and just then, the first course arrives, distracting them both from their thoughts, Dinah letting out a little noise of pleasure when she tastes the first spoonful of the soup she has ordered.

“This is really good”, she then says, Helena looking a bit relieved, “yum, this tastes almost exactly like the soup I had in Rome.”

“Glad you like it”, Helena tells her, earning another smile from her, “I would have felt bad if you’d found it disgusting, I did recommend it.”

“Looks like you have good taste”, Dinah comments, amused when Helena blushes a bit, then shrugs; changing the topic, Dinah asks how her uncle Bob is doing, thinking fondly of the elder man as he has opened his home to her when she’d been in trouble back in Italy, a bit worried at the sigh Helena lets out.

“He’s doing good”, she then says, Dinah feeling relieved, “but he is getting older, and my father worries about him, so far from the rest of us in his tiny village. You’ve noticed though that he steadfastly refuses to come here to Gotham.”

“Yeah, he was quite clear about that”, Dinah agrees, smiling as she thinks back to how adamant the man has been about not moving to Gotham, “but, and this might be egoistical of me, I’m kinda glad he lives there, cause that meant you were there to visit him when I had my car troubles. That was really lucky.”

“I thought I’m imagining things”, Helena lets her know with a small laugh, “when I walked into that cafe and heard you shout about me speaking English. Usually, the only English I hear there is my own, when I’m on the phone.”   


“Yeah, you looked startled”, Dinah remembers, giggling to herself as she goes on, “and I had to tell myself to calm down, so I wouldn’t run at you screaming and you’d think I’m some deranged weirdo.”

“I didn’t think that”, Helena reassures her, earning a smile, but then Dinah already has been aware of this back in Italy, with how willing to help Helena has been, “I was just surprised, but I’m glad it worked out that way.”

“Me too”, Dinah tells her at once, reaching over the table and grasping the other woman’s hand; Helena blushes again, and clears her throat, but doesn’t pull back, Dinah holding her gaze as she smiles at her, letting her see quite clearly how glad exactly she is that everything has worked out that way.

* * *

After the main course and dessert has been eaten, Helena asks the waiter for the check, and Dinah prepares herself mentally for what she estimates she’ll have to pay; when the man arrives though with the small leather folder, he hands it to Helena, and she responds by slipping a credit card inside it and handing it back to him with a few words of Italian, the man smiling as he nods and retreats.

“Please tell me you didn’t just pay the whole thing”, Dinah says once the man is out of earshot, the way Helena’s cheeks colour being answer enough without her having to say anything, “hey, I do believe this date was my idea, so I should have footed the bill. Or we at least should have split it.”

“You can get the next one”, Helena bravely says, the way her blush deepens betraying her a bit though and showing she’s not quite as confident about this as she tries to appear, something she confirms further when she clears her throat and goes on, “um, assuming there will be a next one. I’d like that. A next date, I mean, not that you pay for it, and… God, I better shut up, huh?”

“No worries”, Dinah tells her, unable to hold back a little giggle, “that was adorable, actually, aw. And yeah, I’d like that too, and not just so I can repay you for this amazing dinner.”

Helena looks relieved at that and smiles again, her blush fading; and she is glad for that, as the waiter chooses that moment to come back with her credit card, both Helena and Dinah rising from their seats once she has tucked it away again.

They make their way to the car together, Helena a bit regretful that she has an early morning the next day and thus can’t spend more time with Dinah; this has been a good first date though, she thinks to herself as she drives Dinah home, she feels relaxed and good, and while she’s sometimes not the best at reading people, she can tell Dinah feels the same.

“I’ll walk you to the door?” she offers once she has parked in front of Dinah’s building, the other woman nodding at once; together, they make their way to Dinah’s apartment door, Dinah stopping and turning to look at her there, the small smile which curls her lips making her heart beat faster.

“I had a really good time”, Dinah lets her know, and she nods at once, “thank you. We should do this again very soon.”

Helena nods again, then gathers all her courage and leans in, having a second to hope she hasn’t read this completely wrong before her lips meet Dinah’s; and when the other woman kisses her back at once, she knows she hasn’t, and now it feels as if her heart might beat straight out of her chest.

“And this”, Dinah mumbles once they have pulled apart again, “we should do again very soon too. Maybe right now?”

And with that, Dinah is the one this time to pull her in for another kiss, and as she wraps both arms around the smaller woman, Helena is absurdly glad that Dinah’s car has died in that Italian village two weeks ago. 

She’s quite sure that this event, unpleasant as it has been for Dinah, will now lead to something very nice and good for the both of them.


	47. Bossy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Helena's blood is up after a fight, she gets a bit bossy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame Halfpipechick247 for this one ;P  
> NSFW. Smut. Enjoy. XD

Dinah knows when Helena is in a certain mood, they have been together long enough that she just has to take one look at her and knows, and she can easily tell that tonight is another one of those nights.

Already on the way back home, Dinah can tell it is one of those nights, from the way Helena keeps glancing at her as she drives; Renee is in the backseat though, so the assassin doesn’t act on the thoughts which show so clearly through her gaze, but she doesn’t need to act for Dinah to know what she is thinking.

The knowledge alone makes her feel all tingly inside, but she also makes sure to keep her features carefully controlled, knowing that Renee would tease them endlessly if she’d pick up on that; thankfully, the former cop appears unaware of what is going on between Helena and Dinah though as she makes no comment when Dinah stops the car at her building, just tells them to have a good night before she gets out of the car and vanishes into the house.

“So”, Dinah says innocently, acting as if she has no idea that Helena is looking at her like  _ that _ , “you want to grab some takeout on the way or head straight home?”

“Home”, Helena says at once, her voice so low it’s almost a growl, and Dinah has to hold back a visible shiver, “ _ now. _ ”

Dinah can only nod now, needing another moment to regain her focus before she starts driving again; Helena reaches over and places one hand on the singer’s thigh, and that sends a flash of heat straight to Dinah’s core, her breath hitching noticeably, Helena noticing at once and actually licking her lips, only turning Dinah on further.

_ Shit _ , the singer thinks to herself as she drives, having to force herself to stick to the speed limit, the last thing she needs now is for some overzealous cop to stop them,  _ I’ll ruin my underwear before we get home if she keeps this up. _

She keeps her eyes on the road as she drives, but she can tell that Helena glances at her every now and then as she drives, can see it from the corner of her eye, and that doesn’t help with keeping her composure; and so, she’s glad when she reaches their building, in one of the nicer parts of town, the throbbing between her legs impossible to ignore at this point.

Helena gets out of the car without another word, and strides to the entrance; she has bought that apartment a few months ago, and while Dinah hasn’t officially moved in, a lot of her stuff has found its way there, and she figures it’s only a matter of time until she’ll give up her own apartment and move in fully.

Dinah hurries to get out of the car as well and to follow Helena, the throbbing only increasing when she walks as fast as she can; Helena is waiting at the door for her, and licks her lips again as they walk to the elevator together, and the moment they are inside said elevator, Helena is pushing her against the wall and is kissing her deeply, with an urgency which makes her knees all wobbly.

One of the assassin’s hands slides beneath her shirt and cups her breast, and Dinah moans into her mouth before she can stop herself, turned on beyond reason already, and certainly, Helena can tell, from how hard Dinah’s nipple is against her palm; she responds to the moan be moving her thigh up between Dinah’s legs, earning another moan, a greedy glint in her eyes when she pulls back from the kiss just in time before the elevator stops and the doors slide open.

She’s quick to step out of the elevator, keys already in hand, Dinah hurrying once again to follow her as she strides to the apartment door; Dinah is fairly certain Helena will go back to kissing her again the moment they are inside, but clearly, the woman has other plans, even taking a moment to lock the door again before her gaze focuses on Dinah, the heat in her gaze making the singer feel warm all over again.

“Bedroom”, is all Helena says, voice almost down to a growl, the sound sending another spike of heat into Dinah’s belly; she can only give a brief nod, suddenly too breathless to speak, and Helena leads the way, Dinah not surprised when the assassin pushes her onto the bed the moment they are near enough to it for her to do so. 

She’s quick to move on top of Dinah, kissing her deeply again moments later, with the same hunger, the same fervour, as in the elevator; Dinah wraps both arms around her to pull her even closer, letting out another low moan when Helena’s hand pushes beneath her shirt and cups her breast.

“Damn”, Dinah manages as she pulls back for some air, her breathless tone making Helena smirk, “I’m so turned on, I feel like I’m gonna implode. No more foreplay, babe, just have your way with me.”

Helena grins at her in response, a somewhat wolfish grin which makes her stomach clench again, and gives a brief nod - before she’s quick to remove Dinah’s clothes, so fast Dinah almost expects to her fabric rip, her own clothing following suit a few seconds later, leaving both of them naked, Dinah now being the one to lick her lips as she takes in her girlfriend’s form.

She’s seen Helena naked many, many times at this point, she thinks to herself, but she’ll never grow tired of looking at her, she feels like she could spend hours looking at her and it wouldn’t bore her; Helena takes note of how she looks at her, and lets her enjoy the view for another moment - before she reaches over to the nightstand, Dinah feeling her breath catch again at the sight.

They keep a few very private items in there, away from anyone else’s eyes - and especially Harley’s, they both know, she’d never let them live that one down -, handcuffs and dildos and other items; Helena lets her hand linger for a bit, as if to draw out the reveal of what she has chosen, Dinah feeling her heart speed up as she waits for it.

Finally, Helena has mercy, and does pull the item she’s set her mind on from the drawer; and once again, Dinah’s breath catches, and she’s quick to nod when Helena raises her eyebrows in a silent question.

She’s really glad that the strapon is one of the things which has founds its way here to this place, she thinks to herself as Helena is quick to put it on; by now, the assassin can do so in record time, unlike the first few times they have used it, when she has been insecure and worried, all these insecurities gone now as she gets ready.

“Long time no see, Joel”, Dinah mutters, earning a low snort from the taller woman; she has a moment to smirk, the fact that she has given the toy a name has baffled Helena quite a bit in the beginning, Dinah remembers well, able to picture the confused look which has been on her face back then perfectly.

Then, Helena positions herself and moves her hips forward, and Dinah finds herself unable to think of anything, letting out a hearty moan as she wraps both arms around Helena again, barely coherent enough anymore to make sure none of her power comes along with her voice.

“Yes, babe, like that, fuck”, she spurs Helena on as the assassin starts thrusting, slow and careful at first, then speeding up at Dinah’s very good reaction; it doesn’t take long until her nails dig into Helena’s back, a clear sign that she is close, very close, and Helena’s bossy side takes over once more, voice rough when she mutters in Dinah’s ear.

“Come on”, she half says, half orders, earning another moan before she even continues, “come for me.”

Dinah is more than happy to do so, crying out as her orgasm hits; her embrace around Helena tightens, and still the assassin doesn’t stop, but slows down gradually, letting her come down slowly from the high, sweat on her brow and her heart racing when she finally is capable of focusing her gaze on Helena again.

“Shit”, she lets out, unable to hold back another little moan when Helena pulls back, a bit smug again, “I almost let some of my power come through with that. Maybe we should get you some earplugs.”

“We’ll just have to make sure my ears are covered the next time we do this”, Helena replies with a small shrug, clearly not bothered much by the idea of getting Canary Cried in the face during sex, “maybe with earplugs. Or by your thighs.”

“Woman, you will be the death of me”, Dinah announces, making Helena laugh; she takes a moment to smile back, then pulls her in for a kiss and moves so that she’s on top of her.

She’s very eager, after all, to return the favour. 


	48. In Vino Veritas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt from 1FantasticBeastThatYouCantFind: Dinah gets drunk and bluntly tells Helena how she feels?
> 
> So Dinah does. XD Thank you for the suggestion :D

Dinah is used to many things, but pining is not one of them.

She’s always believed in making her interest clear, and that always has worked out well for her in her life so far, whenever she has felt a certain need and has found someone to help her take care of it; these people, men and women alike, only have shared her bed for a night though, never to be seen again afterwards, and she knows that this time, this is not what she wants.

She wants something more substantial, something long-lasting and with intimacy different from what she’s shared with strangers she has picked up in bars over the years; she wants a  _ relationship _ , she knows, the whole package, with dating and being there for each other and sharing things which are not shared with everybody.

She wants a relationship, and she wants it with Helena, but while she has been dropping hints the size of anvils, the assassin is woefully unaware of Dinah’s intentions.

“She’ll never be into me”, Dinah declares as she downs another shot, not quite sure how many she’s head, miserably watching how Helena and Harley are playing pool, the assassin easily beating the other woman, but Harley doesn’t seem to mind, “I’ve dropped so many hints and she just remains oblivious. This will never work out. She’s just not into me.”

“First of all, slow down there with the shots”, Renee advises in response as Dinah downs another one, having gotten a full tray of them from the barkeep to drown her sorrows, “and second of all, please, it’s  _ Huntress _ we are talking about. You know her social skills are not stellar. Just tell her outright. Hints won’t work.”

“Okay, so”, Dinah says, Renee raising her brows at the slight slur in her voice, but not trying to stop her when she interrupts herself with another shot, “let’s assume I tell her, and she’s really not into me? Then the team would be ruined. I can’t just tell her.”

“Okay, then don’t tell her”, Renee sighs, this is not the first time Dinah is griping about this, and she figures it won’t be the last, “just keep making vague suggestions, maybe she’ll wake up with a new personality one day and it will magically work.”

“Hrmph”, Dinah lets out, gulping down another shot; she feels the booze by now, but that doesn’t stop her, and by the time Helena and Harley come back to their table, she’s quite beyond tipsy, Helena raising her eyebrows when Dinah tries to grasp her arm as she sits down and misses. 

“Someone’s drunk”, Harley observes, cackling, Helena looking a bit worried when Dinah almost slides off her seat, grasping her to steady her, “how much have you had, Killer? Can you drive her home?”

“Yes and don’t call me that”, Helena sternly says, stopping Dinah from grabbing another glass in the last second, “and Dinah, no, I think you’ve had enough. Harley’s right, you should get home.”

“Meanie”, Dinah mumbles, but doesn’t try to stop it when Helena helps her to her feet; she’s feeling the booze quite a bit now, finding it hard to stay on her feet, and letting out a heavy sigh when Helena notices this and wraps one arm around her. 

“I’ll drive you”, Helena says as they leave the bar together, “where are your keys?”

It takes Dinah a few tries to get them out of her pocket in response, and when she manages, they slip from her fingers, but Helena has fast reflexes, and only has had one beer, easily catching the keys before they can fall to the ground.

“Cool”, Dinah gushes as they get walking again, to where she has parked her car, “Harley was right you know. At the Booby Trap. You’re so cool.”

Helena just smiles and shrugs, then helps Dinah get into the passenger seat, and helps her with putting on the seatbelt; she’s pretty sure Dinah will be asleep by the time she’s made her way around the car and gets behind the wheel, but Dinah is still wide awake, and apparently has more to say.

“You’re so cool”, she goes on, looking at her seriously and nodding for emphasis, Helena not quite sure how to react like this, so she focuses very hard on starting the engine and on driving once that has been accomplished, even though that gets difficult when Dinah goes on, “and so hot, and just awesome, and I wish you were my girlfriend cause I’m really really in love with you.”

Helena nearly crashes the car at hearing that, and Dinah giggles as the assassin gives her a wide-eyed look; she grins back at the taller woman, unaware of how deeply she just has shocked her, and nods for emphasis, only to yawn heartily afterwards. 

“I am”, she insists, slumping back into the seat, her eyelids heavy now, “but I know you’re not in love with me, but that’s okay. I’ll just be your friend.”

“Dinah”, Helena starts, but Dinah snores in reply, the assassin raising her eyebrows at how quickly she has fallen asleep; she shakes her head to herself, and focuses on driving again, her mind running wild though as she thinks about what Dinah just has told her.

* * *

When Dinah wakes in the next day, her head pounds, her mouth is dry and her stomach is queasy, and she groans into her pillow as she hides her face from the all too bright sunlight streaming in through the window; it has been a while since she has been this hungover, but then, it also has been a while since she’s too many shots to remember how many exactly she’s had, so the hangover isn’t a surprise.

_ I wish you were my girlfriend. I’m really really in love with you. _

“Oh God”, Dinah groans, she can’t believe she really has said that, and she’s dismayed that she remembers and that the alcohol hasn’t allowed her to forget; and to make it even worse, she hears someone move towards her bedroom door now, and freezes, her mind racing as she tries to remember if she has taken anyone home with her.

She’s fairly sure she hasn’t, the last thing she does remember is falling asleep while Helena has driven her home; no bad guys of Gotham are supposed to know where she lives, but she figures someone still might have found out, and turns to face the door, pulling in a deep breath just in case as it opens.

As it turns out, there’s no need to Canary Cry anyone, since it’s Helena who stands in the doorway; and she holds a glass of water and what looks like the bottle of painkillers from her bathroom, smiling a bit as she raises those items.

“Morning”, she then says, stepping closer to the bed while Dinah looks grateful, “figured you might need this. You were quite drunk last night.”

“Yeah”, Dinah admits, accepting the water and washing down two of the painkillers with it before she goes on, “thanks, I really need that.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing noise, then sits down on the edge of the bed and clears her throat, and suddenly, Dinah is nervous, she knows what Helena is about to say, and prepares for both laughing it off and to be let down gently, fairly certain that she’s been right with what she has said when she’s told Helena that she knows she’s not in love with her.

“So”, Helena starts, glancing at her for a second before she focuses on her hands again, her cheeks reddening, “you said some pretty… interesting things last night.”

“I was drunk”, Dinah is quick to claim, perhaps, she hopes, she can excuse herself with that, and things don’t have to be ruined by how the alcohol has loosened her tongue, “people say weird things when they’re drunk.”

“Sal had a saying”, Helena responds, and Dinah is a bit confused for a moment, not sure why Helena would bring up one of her assassin dads, but the woman goes on and explains before she has to ask, “he said that kids and drunks always tell the truth. So I don’t think you said  _ weird  _ things because you were drunk, I think you were honest.”

“Okay, fine”, Dinah sighs, Helena looking at her again at her unhappy tone, “let’s assume I was, then what? You’ll let me down gently now, it’s okay, no hard feelings. I’ll get over it.”

“Why are you so sure about that?” Helena asks in response, and Dinah blinks, not quite sure how to answer this; she shrugs, then sighs again, toying with the blanket and avoiding Helena’s gaze now as she answers.

“I don’t know”, she says truthfully, from the corner of her eye seeing Helena frown a bit, “you just didn’t seem… interested. In me. So I assumed.”

“Dinah”, Helena says, her deadpan tone making the singer look up at her again after all, “half the time, I’mn not sure  _ myself _ what I’m feeling. So maybe you shouldn’t assume. I know one thing about my feelings though.”

Dinah raises her eyebrows questioningly, and Helena looks back at her for a few seconds - before she leans in and kisses her, not a sweet and gentle kiss, but a rough and somewhat clumsy one, a clear sign that Helena hasn’t done this many times before, perhaps never, Dinah realizes, as her heart seems to jump all the way up to her throat.

“This”, Helena mumbles as she pulls back again after a few moments, blushing now, but not allowing herself to look away, “this is what I know for sure I feel.”

“Good thing drunks are always honest”, Dinah says, and Helena has a moment to nod and smile - and then Dinah is pulling her back in and kisses her again, her hangover magically vanishing when she feels strong arms wrap around her and pull her close as Helena is quick to kiss her back.

Dinah is quite happy now that she’s been so very honest last night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a prompt of your own you want to see? Hit me up here or on tumblr :D


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